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Title: My Thomas

Author: Roberta Grimes

Narrator: Roberta Grimes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-08-17

Publisher: CFA Publishing & Media

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

When Martha Skelton finds herself falling in love with a shy young burgess named Thomas Jefferson, it feels like an inconvenience. Widowed at 22, Martha has no desire to lose the independence she has gained in the wake of her husband's death. But she cannot deny her feelings indefinitely. Despite her intentions, her friendship with Thomas develops into an intense and all-consuming love.

History casts a shadow on Martha's newfound joy. Through her father's slave and mistress, Betty Hemings, she comes to understand the true nature of slavery, an institution she has always taken for granted. As Betty's revelations tear down the walls of her ignorance, Martha begins to work with her husband to end the despicable practice forever.

This story is true. Thomas Jefferson was such an obsessive record-keeper that we know what he was doing nearly every day of his adult life, and all the public things he is quoted as saying in My Thomas come from his contemporary writings. Martha's marriage to Thomas spanned the decade from 1772 to 1782, so it put her at the center of the audacious grab at freedom that was the American Revolution. Jefferson's writings suggest that if he had not been widowed, he would have retired from politics following the war and devoted himself to finding a way to end slavery that could have truly and forever healed the separations between the races. It is hard to hear Martha's story now and not think about what might have been.

Members Reviews:

Very romantic!

This was written as a diary and was a wonderful insight into the relationship Jefferson had with his wife and their true love story. I enjoyed it and would recommend it highly. Gives a new perspective on who the real Mr. Jefferson was as a man and a human being. There is no way a reader would ever think he fathered any children by Sally Hemming. Perhaps his scoundrel brother who lived with Jefferson, but certainly not Thomas.

Jefferson Still Lives

Writer Roberta Grimes' first novel is a marvel. A historical novel whose detail, scope, and depth seem much greater than the book's slightly more than 300 pages. "My Thomas" captures the complicated nature and depth of Thomas Jefferson's wife, Martha, who died just ten years after the couple was married-- and whom Jefferson mourned the rest of his life.

The novel is presented as Martha's own journal of her life with Thomas, and the hand of the author is neither seen nor felt anywhere in the book. The reader is totally immersed in Martha's life, in the person she must have been.

Grimes' mastery of the tone of life in late 18th century Virginia is complete. Her characters live, breathe, and speak with such truth and realism that the reader is drawn unconsciously into the complicated and fascinating lives of Martha and Thomas.

Thomas Jefferson's love for his Martha was so total that, when she died, he destroyed their correspondence in his grief. This deep love fuels the lives of both characters as the tides of the Revolutionary War ebb and flow, and American independence becomes a reality.

Grimes' poetic style captures the details and the currents of Martha's life. "My Thomas" is a superbly crafted exploration of the lives of two individuals made complete by one another.

Each character has his or her history and complexities. Details are rich, and beautiful moments are bountiful in this world of Monticello and the American Revolution.