Unwise Passions: A True Story of a Remarkable Woman---And the First Great Scandal of Eighteenth-Century America

 

Summary (from the publisher): In the spring of 1793, eighteen-year-old Nancy Randolph, the fetching daughter of one of the greatest of the great Virginia tobacco planters, was accused, along with her brother-in-law, of killing her newborn son. Once one of the most sought-after young women in Virginia society, she was denounced as a ruined Jezebel, and the great orator Patrick Henry and future Supreme Court justice John Marshall were retained to defend her in a sensational trial. This gripping account of murder, infanticide, prostitution charges, moral decline, and heroism that played out in the intimate lives of the nation's Founding Fathers is as riveting and revealing as any current scandal -- in or out of Washington.

Review: Nancy Randolph was born into one of the greatest tobacco farming families in Virginia. While she seemingly had a charmed childhood filled with every advantage and seemed poised to one day make a great marriage, her reputation was ruined in 1793 when she was accused of sleeping with her sister's husband and killing the baby that resulted from the affair. The great Patrick Henry was retained to defend her in the trail, but the damage to her public image was long-lasting. While she always adamantly denied the claims, it followed her for years. While she was ultimately able to rise above those determined to ruin her name and life and find a happy and secure home, it was to take many years of struggle and hardship first. 

The summary of this book is a bit misleading, as a I assumed the scandal and the related trial would comprise the bulk of the work. However, this happens early on the book and instead is a full biography of Nancy Randolph, although this pivotal scandal did shape the whole of her life that followed. Yet unlike many historical biographies, this reads almost like a novel and is full of shocking revelations, gross accusations, and her family's trials which included houses burning down, a mute nephew, a disgruntled villain in the form of her sister's brother-in-law, and a rich old bachelor who swoops in to her rescue. 

This was an interesting insight into the world of upper crust white society of Virginia during the late 1700s and early 1800s. While I wish more detail about Nancy as a person survives, Crawford has constructed a full biography of an interesting woman with vast connections. For instance, Nancy's brother Tom was married to Thomas Jefferson's daughter Patsy, which meant that Nancy was at times invited to stay at Monticello. Despite the vast connections and wealth of her family, Nancy's story shows just how low a woman could fall without a husband to defend her during her time period. Fortunately for Nancy, her story ultimately had a relatively happy ending and the life she led is just as interesting as fiction. 

Stars: 4