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The Women Jefferson Loved
“A focused, fresh spin on Jeffersonian biography.” — Kirkus Reviews In the tradition of Annette Gordon-Reed’s The Hemingses of Monticello and David McCullough’s John Adams , historian Virginia Scharff offers a compelling, highly readable multi-generational biography revealing how the women Thomas Jefferson loved shaped the third president’s ideas and his vision for the nation. Scharff creates a nuanced portrait of the preeminent founding father, examining Jefferson through the eyes of the women who were closest to him, from his mother to his wife and daughters to Sally Hemings and the slave family he began with her.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published October 6, 2010
24 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
About the author
Virginia Scharff
15 books13 followersVIRGINIA SCHARFF grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and fell in love with history at an early age. Her picaresque academic career began as a member of the first class of women to spend their undergraduate years at Yale University, before heading west, to grow up with the country. She lived in California, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, where she studied journalism and history and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona. She now serves as Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Southwest at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and also as Women of the West Chair at the Autry National Center of the American West, in Los Angeles.
Virginia’s academic honors include being named Beinecke Research Fellow in the Lamar Center for Frontiers and Borders at Yale University (2008-9), a Fellow of the Society of American Historians, and Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians. She was President of the Western History Association for 2008.
A few years ago, Virginia decided to take the plunge into novel writing. Under the name of VIRGINIA SWIFT, she is author of four mystery suspense novels set in the American West, featuring professor and country singer “Mustang Sally” Alder: Brown-Eyed Girl (2000), Bad Company (2002), Bye, Bye, Love (2004), and Hello, Stranger (2006).
Virginia’s academic honors include being named Beinecke Research Fellow in the Lamar Center for Frontiers and Borders at Yale University (2008-9), a Fellow of the Society of American Historians, and Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians. She was President of the Western History Association for 2008.
A few years ago, Virginia decided to take the plunge into novel writing. Under the name of VIRGINIA SWIFT, she is author of four mystery suspense novels set in the American West, featuring professor and country singer “Mustang Sally” Alder: Brown-Eyed Girl (2000), Bad Company (2002), Bye, Bye, Love (2004), and Hello, Stranger (2006).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
July 8, 2011
An interesting, if rather obvious, approach to Jefferson's life is to study it via the lives of the women involved in it. Given the facts of his reticent personality, the care he took to hide his personal life from public scrutiny, and the contemporary custom of relegating women to the private world of the home, that makes for a considerable task.
Scharff has done her research; as well as she can, given the scanty information, she has revealed the lives of Colonial-era women with insight and humanity. As a study of the female experience in Jefferson's time, this book could stand alone. She details the hardships, arduous work and thankless nature of women's lives in that period with candor and respect.
The Sally Hemings scandal is addressed, though not in the detail I would have expected. The political ramifications of it are almost completely ignored, in favor of it's more private implications, quite in keeping with Scharff's apparent emphasis.
As small-scale history, it works. How this private world relates to the civic world that Thomas Jefferson inhabited, Scharff is less adept at examining. The divide between Jefferson's public and private lives remains sharp throughout the book, and thus, no real insight into Jefferson the man is given. Not an immediate or unforgivable error, given the volume of work already devoted to that, but one that renders the present volume little more substantive than a brief historical background. The length of the book, and the depth of research behind it, seems to hint at the possibility of a more significant and substantive book than Scharff has produced, it's useful insights notwithstanding.
Scharff has done her research; as well as she can, given the scanty information, she has revealed the lives of Colonial-era women with insight and humanity. As a study of the female experience in Jefferson's time, this book could stand alone. She details the hardships, arduous work and thankless nature of women's lives in that period with candor and respect.
The Sally Hemings scandal is addressed, though not in the detail I would have expected. The political ramifications of it are almost completely ignored, in favor of it's more private implications, quite in keeping with Scharff's apparent emphasis.
As small-scale history, it works. How this private world relates to the civic world that Thomas Jefferson inhabited, Scharff is less adept at examining. The divide between Jefferson's public and private lives remains sharp throughout the book, and thus, no real insight into Jefferson the man is given. Not an immediate or unforgivable error, given the volume of work already devoted to that, but one that renders the present volume little more substantive than a brief historical background. The length of the book, and the depth of research behind it, seems to hint at the possibility of a more significant and substantive book than Scharff has produced, it's useful insights notwithstanding.
September 3, 2013
The only reason I didn't rate this book as "really liked it" is because of the author's obvious strain to make the Sally Hemings relationship certain when there are no definitive facts to prove it. I came to admire Jefferson's daughter, Patsy (Martha Jefferson Randolph), and marvel at her intelligence, compassion, and ability. Her biography will be the next I read!
Read
March 7, 2012First off, this book totally killed my Jefferson crush. Reading about his thoughts on women and their "place" was a total disappointment, but I suppose that's neither here no there as far as this book is concerned. What follows is totally off the top of my head and will most definitely need tweaking but I need to write it down now or I might forget.
Where was I? Oh, yes, the real problem with this book is that if you're going to write about the Women Jefferson Loved, you shouldn't start the book by saying that all pertinent correspondence there might have been between Jefferson and his wife, and Jefferson and his family talking about his wife and or Sally Hemings was destroyed and therefore there is not much to go on. This is rather evident throughout the book. Everything is conjecture as far as what kind of relationship Jefferson and his wife Martha might have had, a lot of it based on her expense records and gardening journals. Also, there's practically nothing concrete regarding Sally Hemings. Everything was a hypothesis as to what she might have felt about any given thing. What this book had plenty of though was letters between Jefferson and his daughters and perhaps the author would have done better to write about that. Or to rethink the description of the book. Must end this now because I've got to go. So, that's not much of a wrap up, is it? I will say that overall, I did enjoy it, just not what I was hoping for.
Where was I? Oh, yes, the real problem with this book is that if you're going to write about the Women Jefferson Loved, you shouldn't start the book by saying that all pertinent correspondence there might have been between Jefferson and his wife, and Jefferson and his family talking about his wife and or Sally Hemings was destroyed and therefore there is not much to go on. This is rather evident throughout the book. Everything is conjecture as far as what kind of relationship Jefferson and his wife Martha might have had, a lot of it based on her expense records and gardening journals. Also, there's practically nothing concrete regarding Sally Hemings. Everything was a hypothesis as to what she might have felt about any given thing. What this book had plenty of though was letters between Jefferson and his daughters and perhaps the author would have done better to write about that. Or to rethink the description of the book. Must end this now because I've got to go. So, that's not much of a wrap up, is it? I will say that overall, I did enjoy it, just not what I was hoping for.
August 12, 2012
Good read. Thankfully the author provided a detailed family tree and dramatis personae which I frequently used to sort out the confusing family tree. Jefferson may have been one of our forward thinking forefathers but he had no use for ambitious females - women were bred for domesticity. Oh my! He truly was a family man and went to great measures to protect them leaving himself a pauper in the process. This book definitely piqued my curiousity about Sally Hemmings. Looking forward to researching more about her.
July 17, 2020
This is a great read--a fascinating look into the domestic life not just of Thomas Jefferson, but of many Southern farmers and their families. Scharff ignores most of Jefferson's work (though does look at how some of his writing reflect his emotional and familial states at the time) and focuses squarely on his relationships with his mother, wife, daughters, grandchildren, and, yes, Sally Hemings and her family.
Jefferson's family and the families of those he and his family married into makes for a confusing story; Scharff not only includes family trees (showing the many intersections), but also a listing of the dramatis personae in case you need a quick refresher. It's not helpful that so many people have the same names, either.
Thomas Jefferson remains an enigma; the man is full of contradictions and is incredibly frustrating...but fascinating. His views on women are awful (though I'm sure typical for the time, and probably not as atypical for the present as I'd like), but he raised his (legitimate) daughters and granddaughters to be smart, strong women. He didn't think women should be involved in politics, but that didn't stop him from talking and writing politics with female friends. He both wrote and spoke against slavery (and Scharff portrays him in that regard about as sympathetically as one can portray a slaveowner) while remaining mired in the system.
I learned more about Jefferson's mother, wife, and daughters than I had known before--and I learned a lot about life in 18th and early 19th century America. This is, in many ways, a cultural history and it provides fascinating context for other histories of the period.
Scharff doesn't shy away from addressing Sally Hemings and her family, so intertwined with Jefferson and his various relations (Sally being Jefferson's wife's half-sister, making the various Hemingses aunts and uncles to the various Jeffersons). Without actual documentation of anything that happened, Scharff has to extrapolate people's feelings from their actions--and I think she does a good job. How can you deal with the obvious power differential (Jefferson being 30 years older than Sally and, obviously, the person with complete control over her) but also Sally's choice to return to the United States when she could've stayed in France?
This book is engagingly written, goes quite quickly, and gives the reader a lot to think about. Well done.
Jefferson's family and the families of those he and his family married into makes for a confusing story; Scharff not only includes family trees (showing the many intersections), but also a listing of the dramatis personae in case you need a quick refresher. It's not helpful that so many people have the same names, either.
Thomas Jefferson remains an enigma; the man is full of contradictions and is incredibly frustrating...but fascinating. His views on women are awful (though I'm sure typical for the time, and probably not as atypical for the present as I'd like), but he raised his (legitimate) daughters and granddaughters to be smart, strong women. He didn't think women should be involved in politics, but that didn't stop him from talking and writing politics with female friends. He both wrote and spoke against slavery (and Scharff portrays him in that regard about as sympathetically as one can portray a slaveowner) while remaining mired in the system.
I learned more about Jefferson's mother, wife, and daughters than I had known before--and I learned a lot about life in 18th and early 19th century America. This is, in many ways, a cultural history and it provides fascinating context for other histories of the period.
Scharff doesn't shy away from addressing Sally Hemings and her family, so intertwined with Jefferson and his various relations (Sally being Jefferson's wife's half-sister, making the various Hemingses aunts and uncles to the various Jeffersons). Without actual documentation of anything that happened, Scharff has to extrapolate people's feelings from their actions--and I think she does a good job. How can you deal with the obvious power differential (Jefferson being 30 years older than Sally and, obviously, the person with complete control over her) but also Sally's choice to return to the United States when she could've stayed in France?
This book is engagingly written, goes quite quickly, and gives the reader a lot to think about. Well done.
April 11, 2024
The Women Jefferson Loved is a fascinating take on the lives of the women who were closest to Jefferson both physically and emotionally and what that love might look like. Each of these women he 'loved' in their own right and the stories show that there is a fine love between passionate love and hurtful love. Scharff makes incredibly good points about the roles of women at the time and just how much was placed on their shoulders and to drive the point home, she used the words of Jefferson to show it. She paints a beautifully tragic picture of life at Monticello the happy nostalgic moments that Jefferson longed for and the devastating realities of his daughters and granddaughters both free and enslaved.
I felt at times she took liberties in the discussion of Jefferson's mother Jane, his wife Martha, and Sally and Harriett Hemings. This is something often seen in historical writings, especially about these women that we do not know much about, mainly as there are limited and at times no words directly from them, and not much written about who they were and what they liked. I wouldn't call them guesses but more of 'researched estimated hypotheses'. Please also keep in mind, that the book was written a few years ago and some of the verbiage used is not some that are widely accepted today, but also incredibly important to see regarding the use of language over time.
I felt at times she took liberties in the discussion of Jefferson's mother Jane, his wife Martha, and Sally and Harriett Hemings. This is something often seen in historical writings, especially about these women that we do not know much about, mainly as there are limited and at times no words directly from them, and not much written about who they were and what they liked. I wouldn't call them guesses but more of 'researched estimated hypotheses'. Please also keep in mind, that the book was written a few years ago and some of the verbiage used is not some that are widely accepted today, but also incredibly important to see regarding the use of language over time.
August 5, 2025
would rate this higher if i could OUTSTANDING one of best books Ive read . It is finally a truthful telling of this brilliant but flawed founding father. I could not put it down.
October 25, 2021
Such an interesting look at Thomas Jefferson who, for the most part, was nothing like we were taught in history classes. A great deal of research went into this book and it would be a great accompaniment to any study of the early years of our country.
May 25, 2021
I've long been a fan of women's histories, so it was a delight to find one about the closest female relations of one of the most famous U.S. Presidents. I greatly enjoyed Jefferson's Daughters by Catherine Kerrison, and jumped at the chance to learn more about the rest of the family's women.
Overall, it was a decent book. Scharff clearly researched her topic, digging into any resource she could find, and thus had a great deal to say about Jefferson's daughters and granddaughters, which was intriguing. While I already had some familiarity with Martha (Patsy) Jefferson Randolph and Mary (Maria) Jefferson Eppes from having read Kerrison's work, I was delighted to get a more in-depth look into Patsy's daughters and their relationship with their grandfather.
Another aspect that I found interesting was the women's efforts to cover up or deny any hint that Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings' children, something that DNA testing has pretty conclusively proven. Scharff explains the context of their denial, and how society viewed such a pairing in any form. As a result of their denials, however, a great deal of correspondence and other primary sources were lost, due to them cutting out anything that could hint that Jefferson and Hemings were anything other than master and slave.
My only real quibble with the book is that the first few chapters, usually pertaining to Jefferson's mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, were fairly sparse. Scharff points out that the sources about the woman were sparse, owing to the devastating fire that destroyed Jefferson's birthplace and the family's possessions, and perhaps even owing to Jefferson himself destroying any letters he might have shared with his mother. Because of that dearth of actual resources, Scharff is forced to be quite general about Jane's doings, instead supposing that she did this or that because that was what women did in that time period. It made the reading rather dry at times.
Again, overall, this was a pretty decent read. Definitely worth the time of anyone interested in Jefferson's private family life.
Overall, it was a decent book. Scharff clearly researched her topic, digging into any resource she could find, and thus had a great deal to say about Jefferson's daughters and granddaughters, which was intriguing. While I already had some familiarity with Martha (Patsy) Jefferson Randolph and Mary (Maria) Jefferson Eppes from having read Kerrison's work, I was delighted to get a more in-depth look into Patsy's daughters and their relationship with their grandfather.
Another aspect that I found interesting was the women's efforts to cover up or deny any hint that Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings' children, something that DNA testing has pretty conclusively proven. Scharff explains the context of their denial, and how society viewed such a pairing in any form. As a result of their denials, however, a great deal of correspondence and other primary sources were lost, due to them cutting out anything that could hint that Jefferson and Hemings were anything other than master and slave.
My only real quibble with the book is that the first few chapters, usually pertaining to Jefferson's mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, were fairly sparse. Scharff points out that the sources about the woman were sparse, owing to the devastating fire that destroyed Jefferson's birthplace and the family's possessions, and perhaps even owing to Jefferson himself destroying any letters he might have shared with his mother. Because of that dearth of actual resources, Scharff is forced to be quite general about Jane's doings, instead supposing that she did this or that because that was what women did in that time period. It made the reading rather dry at times.
Again, overall, this was a pretty decent read. Definitely worth the time of anyone interested in Jefferson's private family life.
December 30, 2020
My grandfather was a major history buff and voracious reader. When he passed earlier this year, he left behind lots of fascianting antiques. But while my family divided up swords and rifles, the only thing I wanted was free choice from his book collection. This was one of those titles I remember seeing him read during a visit, and I read it in his memory.
I feel like you always get a much more complete picture of any given time in history--and this particular period is a fascination of mine--when viewed through the life of its women. That's certainly true here. In case there's still any doubt, Jefferson was a dick. Or at the very least suffered from abject lack of self-awareness. But Scharff uses extensive research-based evidence beyond just the President's fabled words (to which every biographer ever has stubbornly stuck) to illustrate the complex emptional ties among this family, in a way that's almost page-turning. And she does an admirable job keeping everything straight in a time and place where literally everyone has the same name. Fun fact: Jefferson's eldest living daughter (most of his kids didn't make it past age 4) wanted to be a French nun, but he was like naw, your job is to run a plantation and make babies. (But hey, also be The Most smart and talented. But not moreso than your husband. But if your husband turns out to be--say--an alcoholic mental case who spends your entire inheritance, love him anyway. But not more than you love me because I'm Thomas Jefferson).
She also sheds light on the Hemingses--Jefferson's "shadow" family--with both care and honesty. We've all heard of Sally, but did you know she was his wife's half sister? (yikes) and Martha, while busy dying an early death from her 9th or 10th horrendous childbirth Like Ya Do, *basically* said Hey Tom, don't ever get married again cuz stepmothers are the worst, but *wink wink* make sure you keep all the beautiful slave ladies my dad left me close by (double yikes). And that Sally could have stayed a free woman in France but came back to Virginia 16 and pregnant with TJ and his [also teenaged but not yet pregnant] daughters, (you'll have to read it to find out why that might have gone down but here's a hint: Les Miserables). Or that her brother James (also a half sibling) mastered French cooking, taught himself fluent French, also traveled back to enslavement in VA by choice, but then negotiated his own freedom like a boss, only to die by his own hand later, after Jefferson offered him the position of head White House chef via the grapevine but refused the decency of writing him directly (come on, the guy writes three poems WHILE DYING and he holds out on a salary letter?). And even though Sally's kids grew up running around in the same, very crowded house with Jeff's grandkids, and his suite at Monticello was literally designed for his private liaisons with Sally, and their relationship was in every way the least secret "secret" of the age--those same grandkids did everything in their power to deny the Hemings connection, a denial which persists in some circles TO THIS DAY.
Anyway, it's fascinating. I only wish my grandpa was still alive so we could discuss.
I feel like you always get a much more complete picture of any given time in history--and this particular period is a fascination of mine--when viewed through the life of its women. That's certainly true here. In case there's still any doubt, Jefferson was a dick. Or at the very least suffered from abject lack of self-awareness. But Scharff uses extensive research-based evidence beyond just the President's fabled words (to which every biographer ever has stubbornly stuck) to illustrate the complex emptional ties among this family, in a way that's almost page-turning. And she does an admirable job keeping everything straight in a time and place where literally everyone has the same name. Fun fact: Jefferson's eldest living daughter (most of his kids didn't make it past age 4) wanted to be a French nun, but he was like naw, your job is to run a plantation and make babies. (But hey, also be The Most smart and talented. But not moreso than your husband. But if your husband turns out to be--say--an alcoholic mental case who spends your entire inheritance, love him anyway. But not more than you love me because I'm Thomas Jefferson).
She also sheds light on the Hemingses--Jefferson's "shadow" family--with both care and honesty. We've all heard of Sally, but did you know she was his wife's half sister? (yikes) and Martha, while busy dying an early death from her 9th or 10th horrendous childbirth Like Ya Do, *basically* said Hey Tom, don't ever get married again cuz stepmothers are the worst, but *wink wink* make sure you keep all the beautiful slave ladies my dad left me close by (double yikes). And that Sally could have stayed a free woman in France but came back to Virginia 16 and pregnant with TJ and his [also teenaged but not yet pregnant] daughters, (you'll have to read it to find out why that might have gone down but here's a hint: Les Miserables). Or that her brother James (also a half sibling) mastered French cooking, taught himself fluent French, also traveled back to enslavement in VA by choice, but then negotiated his own freedom like a boss, only to die by his own hand later, after Jefferson offered him the position of head White House chef via the grapevine but refused the decency of writing him directly (come on, the guy writes three poems WHILE DYING and he holds out on a salary letter?). And even though Sally's kids grew up running around in the same, very crowded house with Jeff's grandkids, and his suite at Monticello was literally designed for his private liaisons with Sally, and their relationship was in every way the least secret "secret" of the age--those same grandkids did everything in their power to deny the Hemings connection, a denial which persists in some circles TO THIS DAY.
Anyway, it's fascinating. I only wish my grandpa was still alive so we could discuss.
April 21, 2019
Scharff has brought new life to the age old legends of Thomas Jefferson by tracing Jefferson's relationships with women to reveal new insights into his private character. Her careful research and historical creativity is evident throughout this book. She strings together a life influenced by women where shadows and grief dominate the landscape; a much different picture than our schoolbook portrait of Jefferson, the towering cornerstone of American democracy.
I appreciate what Scharff brings to the story, but the book did run dry in many places. One of the single greatest American mysteries is whether Jefferson maintained a life-long child-bearing relationship with one of his owned-slaves, Sally Hemmings. Scharff, for good reason, is convinced this is the case and calls this family Jefferson's "shadow family." Once she establishes the irrefutable connections, she continues to circle back to these arguments almost as a reoccurring apologetic throughout the entire book, which lost my interest in many places.
I've learned something important about my own interests through reading Scharff's work. I love history, and I can stick through a work like this with the best of them, but my heart lies in European, and especially British, history. Most American history (outside of American religious history) is important, but not that compelling to me.
I appreciate what Scharff brings to the story, but the book did run dry in many places. One of the single greatest American mysteries is whether Jefferson maintained a life-long child-bearing relationship with one of his owned-slaves, Sally Hemmings. Scharff, for good reason, is convinced this is the case and calls this family Jefferson's "shadow family." Once she establishes the irrefutable connections, she continues to circle back to these arguments almost as a reoccurring apologetic throughout the entire book, which lost my interest in many places.
I've learned something important about my own interests through reading Scharff's work. I love history, and I can stick through a work like this with the best of them, but my heart lies in European, and especially British, history. Most American history (outside of American religious history) is important, but not that compelling to me.
November 2, 2025
My first nonfiction book, inspired by seeing Hamilton the musical after a decade of waiting!
Pleasantly surprised since nonfiction usually bores me to sleep. Extremely surprised by the abundance of shadow families and the cyclical generational pattern from Martha’s father, to Jefferson himself, and his son in law. Huge themes of this complex denial yet simultaneous undeniable existence and presence, that must have been so difficult to compartmentalize to the Hemings. What was their mentality during this time? I like how the book included some written quotes. Gave me academia essay x historical fiction vibes.
Touched upon Jefferson’s strengths and shortcomings and his secretive but not, guilt ridden ashamed but devoted relation with Sally Hemings which I always thought he cheated on Martha but was a posthumous relation.
Appreciate all of the research that went into this book, it is very obvious there was a lot.
Pleasantly surprised since nonfiction usually bores me to sleep. Extremely surprised by the abundance of shadow families and the cyclical generational pattern from Martha’s father, to Jefferson himself, and his son in law. Huge themes of this complex denial yet simultaneous undeniable existence and presence, that must have been so difficult to compartmentalize to the Hemings. What was their mentality during this time? I like how the book included some written quotes. Gave me academia essay x historical fiction vibes.
Touched upon Jefferson’s strengths and shortcomings and his secretive but not, guilt ridden ashamed but devoted relation with Sally Hemings which I always thought he cheated on Martha but was a posthumous relation.
Appreciate all of the research that went into this book, it is very obvious there was a lot.
February 3, 2019
I liked, liked, liked this book written by history professor Scharff. I tried to wrap my mind around the entanglements of the Wayles-Eppes-Hemings-Jefferson family, and to quote the author, "It was a little like trying to eat spaghetti with a knife." I found myself time and again going back to look at the family tree in the front of the book and also to the family tree of the Hemings family published in "Jefferson's Daughters" by Kerrison. I read about Jefferson's beliefs about women, about how the slave trade started in 1712 in England, and about the Virginia law from the 1650's which declared that all African "slaves" must serve their master all their lives and that slavery would be hereditary.
I am looking forward to reading more books about these families and also to reading the mystery suspense novels by this author penned under the name Virginia Swift.
I am looking forward to reading more books about these families and also to reading the mystery suspense novels by this author penned under the name Virginia Swift.
January 13, 2025
3.5 Star (maybe 4???)
Really fascinating look at the women in Thomas Jefferson's life - his mother, wife, daughters, granddaughters, and Sally Hemings. There are a lot of interesting facts and a lot of frustrating facts and a lot of anger inducing facts. One downside of the book, and would be for any book on this topic, is that there isn't much/any information directly from some of the women in question, mainly his mother, wife, and Sally. Mostly it is conjecture based on what is happening to TJ or what he says to other people about his mom and wife. There is more from his daughters and granddaughters because those letters were saved.
It was an worthwhile book to read.
Really fascinating look at the women in Thomas Jefferson's life - his mother, wife, daughters, granddaughters, and Sally Hemings. There are a lot of interesting facts and a lot of frustrating facts and a lot of anger inducing facts. One downside of the book, and would be for any book on this topic, is that there isn't much/any information directly from some of the women in question, mainly his mother, wife, and Sally. Mostly it is conjecture based on what is happening to TJ or what he says to other people about his mom and wife. There is more from his daughters and granddaughters because those letters were saved.
It was an worthwhile book to read.
September 23, 2020
While I found the book fascinating and well written, I question featuring both Jefferson’s wife, Martha, and Sally Hemings So prominently. There isn’t much remaining documentation about either of them, as the author admits. I was somewhat disappointed that Jefferson had such a dismissive attitude toward women when his thinking was so progressive on so many other topics. This isn’t a fault of the author of course. She brought the material alive in such a way as to make the book read more like a novel than an historical treatise.
September 16, 2020
Pulling from letters, old interviews, and recorded family lore, this work brings the women of Jefferson into the light... not exactly bright light, mind you, as women were just not of importance.
Well-written and an interesting read just the same.
Perhaps it is a function of my aging, but the more I read and learn of Jefferson, the more my regard for him diminishes. Quite unable to live within his means, along with being a hypocrite to boot. Sigh.
Well-written and an interesting read just the same.
Perhaps it is a function of my aging, but the more I read and learn of Jefferson, the more my regard for him diminishes. Quite unable to live within his means, along with being a hypocrite to boot. Sigh.
November 26, 2018
Highly recommend if you are a history buff, enjoy nonfiction, or just interested in the history of Thomas Jefferson and the time period in which he lived. Writing style is rather dry, and if you really want to keep up with it, you need to chart out or create a spreadsheet to keep track of all the names/nicknames of the Jefferson and Hemings family members.
February 14, 2019
Light and entertaining. No new information. But if you like reading about Jefferson and his women this is a quick book.
June 11, 2013
The Women Jefferson Loved, by Virginia Scharff
Whether you’re a fan of Thomas Jefferson or not, I think you will enjoy this book. In many ways it reads like a novel focusing only on Jefferson’s home life and the relationships he had with the women who were there for him, his mother, sisters, wife, daughters, friends, slaves. I couldn’t put it down!
Here was a man who liked to keep his personal affairs separate from his professional life and this writer manages to push through that separation and give us a full view - as if you had just stepped through the front door of Monticello. The book, written in the context of the times he lived broadened my understanding of just how complex a man Jefferson was. We see his relationship with his mother with his education and rise in government on the periphery. I loved seeing Jefferson as a young man with his dream of Monticello, his bringing his new wife, Martha, there when it was only a one room shack. The hardships these people endured just in surviving their lives was mind-blowing. Children died constantly and pregnancy was a looming threat to a woman’s life. Eventually, Jefferson would watch his own wife die in childbirth.
Monticello took years to build and was always a work in progress. It couldn’t have been done without the slaves and owning slaves was entrenched in Southern American society - it’s what people did. Jefferson was no exception. He owned many slaves, though he favored abolition, a paradox still hotly debated. It wasn’t uncommon back then for a slave owner to take one of his slaves as a lover and father children and this went on in Jefferson‘s family for generations. Jefferson’s own wife, Martha was a half sister to Sally Hemings, the woman who later became his lover and was also his slave. Jefferson had made a promise to his wife on her death bed that he would never remarry. Sally Hemings, who was half white and beautiful, was already a part of his inner circle as a maid to his youngest daughter, Polly. His involvement with her was convenient and easy - something he could control, and something that circumstances bent in his favor. The children he had with his wife and the children he had with Sally Hemings lived under the same roof but were treated differently, again something understandable only in the culture of the era they lived.
One thing that struck me was Jefferson’s provincial attitude towards women. He felt women should live their lives in the quietude of their home, making their husbands happy, overseeing the running of the household and raising children. He also felt that men had an obligation to take care of women, to feed and cloth them and see to their needs. The book gives an amazing portrait of the relationship Jefferson had with his two daughters that lived to adulthood, especially the oldest one, “Patsy” who became his stalwart supporter and comforter as a very young child the day her mother died.
People will always be debating a man as multi-dimensional and interesting as Thomas Jefferson. I didn’t read this book for precise historical details. It’s just a great snapshot that focuses on the women who surrounded him - it’s a lot to fun to read and left me even more in awe of those who founded this country and the conditions that shaped their lives.
Whether you’re a fan of Thomas Jefferson or not, I think you will enjoy this book. In many ways it reads like a novel focusing only on Jefferson’s home life and the relationships he had with the women who were there for him, his mother, sisters, wife, daughters, friends, slaves. I couldn’t put it down!
Here was a man who liked to keep his personal affairs separate from his professional life and this writer manages to push through that separation and give us a full view - as if you had just stepped through the front door of Monticello. The book, written in the context of the times he lived broadened my understanding of just how complex a man Jefferson was. We see his relationship with his mother with his education and rise in government on the periphery. I loved seeing Jefferson as a young man with his dream of Monticello, his bringing his new wife, Martha, there when it was only a one room shack. The hardships these people endured just in surviving their lives was mind-blowing. Children died constantly and pregnancy was a looming threat to a woman’s life. Eventually, Jefferson would watch his own wife die in childbirth.
Monticello took years to build and was always a work in progress. It couldn’t have been done without the slaves and owning slaves was entrenched in Southern American society - it’s what people did. Jefferson was no exception. He owned many slaves, though he favored abolition, a paradox still hotly debated. It wasn’t uncommon back then for a slave owner to take one of his slaves as a lover and father children and this went on in Jefferson‘s family for generations. Jefferson’s own wife, Martha was a half sister to Sally Hemings, the woman who later became his lover and was also his slave. Jefferson had made a promise to his wife on her death bed that he would never remarry. Sally Hemings, who was half white and beautiful, was already a part of his inner circle as a maid to his youngest daughter, Polly. His involvement with her was convenient and easy - something he could control, and something that circumstances bent in his favor. The children he had with his wife and the children he had with Sally Hemings lived under the same roof but were treated differently, again something understandable only in the culture of the era they lived.
One thing that struck me was Jefferson’s provincial attitude towards women. He felt women should live their lives in the quietude of their home, making their husbands happy, overseeing the running of the household and raising children. He also felt that men had an obligation to take care of women, to feed and cloth them and see to their needs. The book gives an amazing portrait of the relationship Jefferson had with his two daughters that lived to adulthood, especially the oldest one, “Patsy” who became his stalwart supporter and comforter as a very young child the day her mother died.
People will always be debating a man as multi-dimensional and interesting as Thomas Jefferson. I didn’t read this book for precise historical details. It’s just a great snapshot that focuses on the women who surrounded him - it’s a lot to fun to read and left me even more in awe of those who founded this country and the conditions that shaped their lives.
December 27, 2010
I confess...I'm not a history buff (in large part b/c my fact-memory is weak), but I've always had an interest in the often untold stories of the women whom history tends to overlook. Thus, I was interested in The Women Jefferson Loved, a recent book by Virginia Scharff, and selected it as one to receive from Harper (in return for a promise to review it but w/ no limits on what I write). The book is focused on the home life of Thomas Jefferson and the women he cared for including his mother, his wife, Sally Hemmings (a slave w/ whom he had a long relationship), his daughters (only two lived to adulthood), and a bit on his granddaughters.
I really enjoyed this book. It showed that the women who supported Jefferson lived complex and difficult lives. Many women in his immediate circle perished in childbirth and the women often lived with the debts that his position entailed. I had been aware of the Hemmings story but learned a lot more about it...I hadn't realized that the relationship developed only after his wife's death, that Sally was also his wife's half-niece, and that she was about 30 years his junior. Throughout the book, the author notes the complexities of slavery including the shadow families that were so common and the balancing of ideals with the reality of the times.
There are a lot of names here, which tends to be hard for me in any book. The author anticipated this, using nicknames to help distinguish different women and providing both a genealogy chart and a "cast of characters". I very much appreciated these additions and they contributed to making the book an enjoyable and approachable read. Definitely recommend to anyone with an interest in women's history...not the women who made the headlines but rather the women behind (and overlooked by) the well-known stories of historic men. Four stars (of five...I rarely give five).
I really enjoyed this book. It showed that the women who supported Jefferson lived complex and difficult lives. Many women in his immediate circle perished in childbirth and the women often lived with the debts that his position entailed. I had been aware of the Hemmings story but learned a lot more about it...I hadn't realized that the relationship developed only after his wife's death, that Sally was also his wife's half-niece, and that she was about 30 years his junior. Throughout the book, the author notes the complexities of slavery including the shadow families that were so common and the balancing of ideals with the reality of the times.
There are a lot of names here, which tends to be hard for me in any book. The author anticipated this, using nicknames to help distinguish different women and providing both a genealogy chart and a "cast of characters". I very much appreciated these additions and they contributed to making the book an enjoyable and approachable read. Definitely recommend to anyone with an interest in women's history...not the women who made the headlines but rather the women behind (and overlooked by) the well-known stories of historic men. Four stars (of five...I rarely give five).
November 11, 2025
I was introduced to this book with the assumption that it would be a hyper-focused book dedicated to the many women in Jefferson's life. However, to my dismay, the women- particularly those that have existing letters like Martha and Ellen- were not as engaged and inserted into the book as I had hoped. Instead, the author draws upon assumption to "illustrate" her point. While Jefferson undoubtedly "loved" Sally Hemings (in some capacity), the numerous times the author makes bold assumptions is quite annoying since we don't really have any evidence for those assumptions. Instead, the author produces some vague note to justify her ideas of what Sally, Jefferson, and Martha thought. To me, that doesn't really fulfill the book's purpose or the book's integrity as I'd rather have the author admit that we don't really know the extent to which Jefferson and Sally interacted, how Sally felt, and how Sally dealt with emotional isolation.
Furthermore, the author often states things for the purpose of it just being there (???). Sometimes she'll craft a metaphor, but that metaphor really serves no purpose in the book and is so basic and flat that it doesn't give you any satisfaction in reading it. Additionally, the author also likes the use "and....and....and," it just got on my nerves that she didn't just make a list: "....,...., and..." To me, that just seems so much easier and less cumbersome to read.
To summarize: this book doesn't give any new information on Jefferson and doesn't give any in depth knowledge of the women.
Furthermore, the author often states things for the purpose of it just being there (???). Sometimes she'll craft a metaphor, but that metaphor really serves no purpose in the book and is so basic and flat that it doesn't give you any satisfaction in reading it. Additionally, the author also likes the use "and....and....and," it just got on my nerves that she didn't just make a list: "....,...., and..." To me, that just seems so much easier and less cumbersome to read.
To summarize: this book doesn't give any new information on Jefferson and doesn't give any in depth knowledge of the women.
May 13, 2014
Fascinating history of Thomas Jefferson and the women in his life. Provides real insights into the quality of life of Virginia plantation life and, once again, the horror of slavery. With "shadow families" of interracial relationships even the most affluent, intellectual and politically important families had to live in a level of denial and subterfuge that is breathtaking to read about. The genealogy chart at the beginning of the book is so hard to follow that it provides a shocking picture of that reality. TJ's long term relationship with Sally Hemings after his wife's death is all the more interesting because his wife and Sally were half sisters! Who knew?!!! So the shadow family children continued to live with their half siblings as slaves to them. This was almost beyond belief to me but was apparently not that uncommon. Unfairness, some struggled with the obvious moral issues of slavery but in the end, economics won out. There were many interesting insights into Jefferson's life and thinking. I have to admit,I had no idea he reached the end of life in such dire financial straits. Overall, an interesting book with unique perspective and insights into the era. Seems very well researched. The writing wasn't great but held my interest throughout.
November 15, 2010
If one is poor at names, this book is a challenge, not because of the author, but because of the Jefferson families' propensity to continually use the same names. The family has a complicated genealogy! Basically, it begins by relating the story of Jane Isham Randolph who married Peter Jefferson. Most valuable is the way the author continually sets the mores of the southern plantation owners in the 1700s. One finds out how they lived a shadow lif- that is with slaves who were around them all the time but even though related by owner perogative, were not so acknowledged. One begins to understand the debt of the plantation owners and how in the long run of the family, penury was inflicted on the female inheritors. The other women's lives traced are Marhta- who married Jefferson, son of James,Sally Hemings, the young slave picked by Thomas Jefferson to service him after Martha died, and Patsy and Polly, Jefferson's daughters who loved their father and overlooked his relationship with Sally. The book is so much more than can be said in a review- complicated but a strong attempt at giving understanding.
May 7, 2013
I picked up this book because I’ve admired Scharff since we became friends in grad school. I kept reading because her view of Jefferson through the lives of the women who in many ways defined him is fascinating. A professor of history at the University of New Mexico, Scharff is a dogged researcher, a creative thinker and an outspoken feminist. She’s also a witty and trenchant writer, as this passage about Jefferson’s mother’s reaction to his early revolutionary views shows:
"What was a mother to think, as her son and his compatriots tacked toward treason? Jane Randolph Jefferson had been born in England and reared among British gentry in Virginia. She valued the fine things connected with the mother country. … In ordinary times her men might hold any number of bold ideas or unconventional philosophies, but such notions would have fewer real consequences."
The Women Jefferson Loved brings alive the five key women in Jefferson’s life: his mother, his wife, his daughters, and his mistress, who was also his slave. It’s a great read, and a window into the women–and men–of an extraordinary time.
"What was a mother to think, as her son and his compatriots tacked toward treason? Jane Randolph Jefferson had been born in England and reared among British gentry in Virginia. She valued the fine things connected with the mother country. … In ordinary times her men might hold any number of bold ideas or unconventional philosophies, but such notions would have fewer real consequences."
The Women Jefferson Loved brings alive the five key women in Jefferson’s life: his mother, his wife, his daughters, and his mistress, who was also his slave. It’s a great read, and a window into the women–and men–of an extraordinary time.
February 11, 2011
A very different perspective from the usual Jefferson trivia. This is the soul of the man as seen through his mother, his one and only wife, his adult children, his grandchildren and his significant other--a slave on his plantation who became his lover and bore at least 6 children to him---all of whom were set free when Jefferson died. It is a very colorful history of the times, his presidency, his family and sadly his downfall into great debt so that after his death all of his estate was sold to meet his debtors. The author seems to have written this to set the record straight as to the great trials of women in this period of history and how Jefferson was seen by his family--through letters and articles from that time.
February 17, 2011
I am not a huge fan of any kind of non-fiction but I actually enjoyed reading this book. Ms. Scharff allows the reader to see Thomas Jefferson through the telling of the history of the women in his life - from his mother, his wife, his children & grandchildren, and what Ms. Scharff calls his "shadow family" with Sally Hemings. It provides an interesting perspective of Jefferson's early life, his Presidency and his unfortunate decline into poverty. It also provides the reader with a greater understanding of the difficulties and dangers women faced during this period. A very interesting read, and a definite 4-star book for me.
September 27, 2012
I was very disappointed in this book. I felt that the author could not decide if she wanted to write a biography or a an historical fiction story. The facts were quite interesting, however, Scharff too often tried to imagine what the people were thinking or feeling with no factual basis to back up her assumptions. I felt that she wrote the story through the eyes of a modern day woman and did not take the culture of the time into account in many of her assertions. I would suggest that there is probably a better book out there to learn about the subject.
April 13, 2016
This was our choice for our 1st Ladies Book CLub since Jefferson technically didn't have a first lady (he was all ready widowed and never remarried). Although we all felt it difficult to read. The author was redundant , there were were times I was literally shouting enough- I get it! We felt this caused the book to be a longer read then necessary. However, we appreciated the Jefferson-Wayles-Hemings family tree. We also had a lively,spirited 4 hour long book club meeting touching on many subjects about TJ and of course current days politics and our misconceptions of TJ.
February 18, 2011
Okay folks I am back on the reading track. Got stuck over the holidays. So this is my first read and although I enjoyed it I kept thinking about the marvelous Hemings of Monticello by Annette Gordon...Scharff really brought to life the home and hearth of the women featured and the daily duties that they performed on Virginia plantations in a fledgling colony. The picture did not look tranquil even amid Jefferson’s persona of being a Virginia gentleman and living lavishly upon a pile of debt.
July 14, 2011
Much easier to read than Gordon-Reed's definitive study on the Hemings, plus much I didn't know about TJ's wife and daughters. It kind of left me wanting a little more depth, but as with anything dealing with Jefferson and the women in his life, there just isn't much to work with. I just never felt that I really got to know any of the women, but I did acquire some new insight into Jefferson's behavior.
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