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

Crawford, Alan Pell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743264673 ISBN 13: 9780743264679

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2005

Synopsis

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 infant. Once one of the loveliest and most sought-after young women in Virginia society, she was immediately denounced as a ruined Jezebel, and the great orator Patrick Henry and future Supreme Court justice John Marshall were retained to defend her in her sensational trial. In the tradition of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Alan Pell Crawford brings to life this gripping account of murder, infanticide, and prostitution charges, and of unimaginable treachery, moral decline, and great heroism played out in the intimate lives of this nation's Founding Fathers. It is the true story of the privileged and pampered children of the new country's aristocratic families as they struggle to find their place in an increasingly democratic America, where their values and position in society are under siege. Above all, it is the story of the indomitable Nancy Randolph, who is hounded out of Virginia by a scandal that will haunt her and everyone she loves for the rest of their lives. In the early 1790s, after Nancy goes to live with her sister Judith and handsome brother-in-law Richard at their remote plantation, called Bizarre, rumors fly throughout Virginia that Nancy has given birth and Richard, knowing the child to be his, has killed it. After an inquest, Nancy is ordered off the plantation by her cousin John Randolph and, reduced to poverty, she must find her way in a new and forbidding world. Eventually she flees to New York where she forms an unlikely alliance with the immensely rich Gouverneur Morris, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Meanwhile John Randolph, a protégé of Thomas Jefferson who becomes a notorious wit and controversial member of Congress, a duelist and a drug addict, sp

About this title

Product Description

Unwise Passions 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 sc...

Review

The Washington Post Book World ...an engaging exercise in popular history...[Nancy Randolph] was an extra-ordinary woman...and we are indebted to Alan Pell Crawford for rescuing her from undeserved oblivion.

The Washington Times This book is a Must Read for anyone who wants an inside story of the early struggles of our country and of a remarkable true heroine.

The News & Observer Crawford addresses his subject with a historian's accuracy, and he generously spices his text with rich and gossipy details....[He] crafts an elegant, true history with intelligence and grace.

Richmond Times-Dispatch Reminiscent of both Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and James Fox's White Mischief, Crawford's book is more than simply an interesting addition to Virginiana. Unwise Passions blends social history, politics, and mystery into what would become a classic work of scholarship. That the book is such an entertaining read is the bonus bestowed by an author of much talent.

Richard Brookhiser, The Wall Street Journal [A]n unbeatable tale....We think of the Founders as men of marble, but they knew that human hearts (including their own) could be dark and tempestuous. That is why they built their political systems with such care. Unwise Passions is the black velvet backdrop to an introductory course in political philosophy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0743264673
• ISBN 13: 9780743264679
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336