The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr: A Petticoat Diplomat

 I considered whether this book could be considered my first strong female protagonist of 2023, so I could review it on my other blog that is devoted to strong female protagonists, Flying High Reviews.  I haven't reviewed any books there this year.  I decided that Mary Emmons didn't qualify even though the back cover blurb says she is a strong protagonist.  I think it's because she is a real historical individual. The complexity of a real person means that she won't have the stature that I want in a strong fictional protagonist.  That's the way I feel anyway.  We'll see if I can read any fiction with a strong female protagonist in December.  I hope so.

This is the second novel of Susan Holloway Scott, who is a bestselling author.  I read very few books by bestselling authors.  The last one I read was  Nothing Good Happens After Midnight: An Anthology Edited by Jeffrey Deaver in November 2020.  It will probably be some time before I read another book by a bestselling author.  

Petticoat Diplomat, the subtitle of this review, is a quote from Mrs. Prevost, who is a major character in the book.

                          

There is a mention of Elizabeth Freeman who was the first African American slave to sue for and win her freedom in the state of Massachusetts during 1781.  In this book, a fictional version of Alexander Hamilton said this would never become a precedent in law because the Southern states wouldn't agree.  Yet it did become an important precedent in the state of Massachusetts.  In fact, it was one of the precedents that brought about the abolition of slavery in that state.  

Yet  The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr  largely took place in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.  The Articles of Confederation governed the U.S. for almost that entire period.  The Constitution wasn't ratified until close to the end of this book. 

I liked this book enough to give it a B+ which means it will have four stars on Goodreads.  I have only one A rated novel so far in 2023 .  Since the year is almost over, I don't really expect that I will read another novel that I will consider that exceptional. We'll see. There is a slim hope that it will happen in December.