Forget George and Martha, Bill and Hillary and even JFK and Jackie–and although Eleanor Roosevelt was a winner, there was a tremendous distance between her and FDR that was probably enhanced by policies rather than feeling. No, for me the most interesting relationship between a husband and wife who at one time occupied the White House was that of John (1735-1826) and Abigail Adams (1744-1818). They were married for fifty-four years (when such lengthy unions were common amongst people who managed to live long), and through their correspondences (which were required due to John having to serve the nation from afar) the reader is able to admire a loving relationship between two opposite personalities who met correctly on higher thoughts and had the admirable ability to like each other.
John was a feisty individual who stood his ground and would defend anyone on the basis of right and wrong. He was querulous, intelligent and unlikely to smooch rings. Abigail was his conscience; she was shrewd and tough and also a moral soul who viewed slavery as evil in a time when it was supported by the church. That might sound merely “just fine today,” but such stances were often disastrous. Just ask the ghost of John Brown.
The letters cover decades and between the two; I believe that both were excellent writers, but I find Abigail the more talented of the two (even though she frequently invented various spellings of the same word in the same letter with frequency). I imagine that came from her natural position of knowing that she was writing to her husband, a man who often had to write for the masses. He could be personal, but you can see where the “public orator” comes in.
I picked this book up as something to read during my long ferry commute to work (one hour each way, for twenty-plus years). God knows how many words I read on that trip. Millions, maybe. I deliberately chose items I would not normally read or would re-read Shakespeare or other classics such as The Scarlet Letter. I believe that a person should develop a life long relationship with high level writing. You can track the state of your own growth by comparing your opinion on Othello from first having read it in school to how you feel about it at fifty. Shakespeare and great writers such as Hawthorne, Dickens, Parker, Twain, O’Connor, D.H. Lawrence (currently reading The Sisters) tend to grow along with you–looking back at showoffy “product” can often embarrass you for your previous admiration for it. (I avoid slamming other writers in public anymore–after all, it is just my point of view; maturity arrives when you can freely admit that you do not know everything.)
Moreover, I like to keep my touts for works that I admire short and sweet. I greatly avoid windy forwards written by academics. Top shelf critics, like Harold Bloom, could write interesting books on certain works, but he also knew that the world doesn’t require a twenty-thousand word preface for Hamlet, when a thousand will do.
Therefore, my aim is to kindly offer a reading suggestion that I believe will bring serenity to long and boring travels or during the wonderful quiet hours of privacy.
literally stories 
Leila, Just googled this and discovered lots of five star reviews. I imagine the readers who will get most out of it would be those who know more about early American history than I do. But nearly all my favourite reads have come to me via recommendations. So I’ll give this one a go. I’m aware that most long-distance love affaires fizzle out, but I’m the product of one successful long-distance affaire (my parents having been separated for the duration of WWII), so I’m predisposed in their favour. thanks for the recommendation – mick
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Mick
One of the best things about the book is not having to know colonial history (the version I read oftened prefaced the state of things). The language between the two often gets colorful as one should expect from people who had no idea that they were writing for posterity. Abigail did stuff like running the farm and kept her head with typhoid sweeping in on a seemingly regular basis. And although she expressed emotions she never lost her cool.
It is amazing to look back at the difficulty of every day life anywhere in the world–(in this case) about 250 years.
Thank you!
Leila
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice essay. You put your commute time to good use. “I deliberately chose items I would not normally read…” Have to say I admire that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi David
Yes, I read a lot of things that way. Lord Jim, the lesser known plays of the Bard, and two big ones War and Peace and Bleak House. Great novels, and I read fast, but they are whoppers and for many weeks they were the heaviest things in my lunch pack (fortunately for my spine they were not in it at the same time).
Thank you!
Leila
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Leila,
Bus, subway, and ferry commute reading is a critical part of the reading/writing life, because every moment might as well be used than wasted. Vacation reading also has its tactical aspects. I read War and Peace while in Costa Rica avoiding horse riding excursion with the family and Bleak House rather than going to theme-parks in Florida. Really long classics have more credibility in these obvious subterfuges than low-brow throw aways
I was also a pragmatic student reader. When dealing with assigned books and plays, I performed experiments to seek optimal benefit — time spent on assignment vs. whatever pleasure was possible. With regards to music while reading, I saw 3 options: 1] no music — preferably up a tree, 2] music orchestrated without words at a desk, 3] songs with words read in bed or in the toilet.
Results (as expected)
Effective pages read/hour: 1, 2, & 3.
Emotional pain/hour: 1, 2, & 3.
It’s a will versus flesh decision, but you can always choose a Steven King novel. He is very good. Or you could always go with Dostoyevsky’s Investigations of a Dog on Nook with a beer in the shower. — Gerry
LikeLike
Hi Gerry
You sound like Mr. Bemis from the Twilight Zone! I agree, there are many otherwise useless moments that can be filled with reading. For me any sort of wait–like at the doctor’s office–I am always a bit early and she is always late, is a very good place and it is why I have Kindle on my phone. The ferry took ten hours a week minimum from my life, so I decided that just sitting there in a general state of “glaze” (gazing with the mental activity of a ham), is stupid. I never wrote on the ferry because it was too loud–but it was the perfect place to read, to make an hour feel only half as long.
It’s always a pleasure to speak to you!
Leila
LikeLike
Leila
Good writing survives longer than bad writing because it is much better written, plain and simple. A formula which is as simple and true as the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening. One way to confirm this is to try and read almost any other plays than Shakespeare’s from that period. Christopher Marlowe produced a few masterpieces, and Ben Jonson maybe one or two. Other than that, almost all the plays from Shakespeare’s day would be like reading the scripts from Gilligan’s Island or Charlie’s Angels. There is nothing there, even though I confess to having viewed those shows in the deep past and having been a little in love with the women in both.
You are such a charming and SURPRISING writer, always with something new up your sleeve! I’m so glad to be one of your regular readers. You are an educator, truly, as well as an entertainer.
You boiled down everything the reader NEEDS to know about these two into a few words. More could be said, but it doesn’t need to be said. The essential is here. I think that is one thing H. Bloom tried to do in his prefaces.
I’ve been rereading some Nathaniel Hawthorne tales and sketches. There was a film made about three of them starring Vincent Price. Also, thanks for mentioning D.H. Lawrence. A writer who gets kicked around by the P.C. Police and yet, he will outlive them. He was truly a secular prophet in the sense of knowing what’s important in life. Sometimes he went on too long, but his best work is on fire in the best of ways. My fave book by him is STUDIES IN CLASSIC AMERICAN LITERATURE. He writes about American writers better than Americans do. And he makes a great call for brevity and intensity in that book. His best poems are also heartbreakers, esp. the ones he wrote while dying. I’ve never read The Sisters but I love Women in Love.
Thank you!
Dale
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Dale!!!
I think that becoming someone targeted by the PC police will be a badge of honor someday (sooner the better!) I guess that all kicked up with good intentions but I find that sort of oranization to be as low as the old House UnAmerican Activities Bullshit. The easiest way to kill someone, atleast to “remove” a person is to accuse that person of a sex crime of some kind. There are a lot of crappy people out there who have it coming, but there must be context and proof. Why can’t we stop Witch hunting!
Thanks again! And although I am unable to express my gratitude well via tapping my phone via my thumb (its warm and sunny out), I can still encourage readers to check out The Drifter at Saragun Springs, right now!
Leila
LikeLike
Hi Leila,
Letters are as much about social history as the relationships between the writers.
Sadly, in this day and age, text speak and an emoji will never get across the emotion that words will from two writers who have much more than a ‘like’ relationship.
Letter writing may die out but in my own small way, I try to keep it alive.
I don’t mean I have anyone to correspond with with quill pen (I’m jealous of the beauty of that type of writing.) in hand, but whenever I do type out a message, I make sure I do it in long hand!!
All the very best.
Hugh
LikeLike
Hi Hugh
I imagine you are a very good letter writer. I bet Diane is also a good letter writer, same for Dale, David, Gerry, Mick and anyone else who comes by. It comes with the talent. I bet it is rare to meet a writer who is a poor letter writer because that would not make sense.
I happen to be a fine letter writer, I will say without modesty. I like doing it and regret that the opportunity to do so does not come up as often. I guess it comes down to whether you find it a pleasure or a chore!
Thanks for stopping by!
Leila
LikeLike
This is a charming essay in many ways. It’s a long, long time since I had a commute but reading is a wonderful way to spend time when the world is asking no more of you than to you just ‘sit there and wait’
It is sad that we no longer write letters. When my children were little I was still writing regularly to family and it is a pleasurable thing for both the writer and the reader. Now and then I will pen a short note but that’s about the size of it now. When Ian and I were seperated by circumstances for long periods I would write to him daily. I don’t know how much it irked him to have to respond – my hubby is not a natural wordsmith – his skills are much more technical. We do though still compare books that we are reading and it’s easy for me because he doesn’t like to buy his own, preferring to have the ones I have in our Kindle family library. I enjoyed this post very much and it gave me much food for thought. I am not sure I would read this particular book, it’s not really my scene but thank you anyway. dd
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Diane
As I just told Hugh, I bet you are a good letter writer. It is an art form, but it cannot be faked–as we see often in submissions that attempt to use letters as the method to move a story. A little of that is all right–but letters are letters and being such, they are personal insights into the writer–not a device.
I like to read letters from the past. When I worked at Goodwill occasionally some soulless person would dump their grandparents personal letters off in donations. I saw such happen at least a half dozen times. I found myself compelled to read them, even though a voice told me I shouldn’t.
Fortunately, the manager at the time didn’t have the heart to toss them. I’ve often wondered what happened to them and feel bad when the word “recycling” pops into mind–the donations station has a new manager since the other retired during the COVID year.
Thank you!
Leila
LikeLike
I like the advice in paragraph 4.
Interesting read. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Michael!
Although “good advice” and “Leila Allison” are far far from being synonyms, on that point I think I got it right.
Leila
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do enjoy a good collection of letters – I tend to have read those between writers more than any others, but these sound beautiful. By the way, I think you may have given John a typoed, bonus 100 years (sorry)!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Paul
Thank you for the catch!
For anyone just seeing this I had Mr Adams living to the age of 190 until an edit occurred due to Paul’s keen eye.
Funny how that goes, I must have looked at that ten times without notice.
Leila
LikeLike