John Quincy and Louisa Adams's
unexpected journey that changed everything.
American Phoenix is the sweeping, riveting tale of a grand historic adventure across
forbidding oceans and frozen tundra-from the bustling ports and towering
birches of Boston to the remote reaches of pre-Soviet Russia, from an exile in arctic
St. Petersburg to resurrection and reunion among the gardens of Paris. Upon
these varied landscapes this Adams and his Eve must find a way to transform
their banishment into America's salvation.
Author,
historian, and national media commentator Jane Hampton Cook breathes life into
once-obscure history, weaving a meticulously researched biographical tapestry
that reads like a gripping novel. With the arc and intrigue of Shakespearean
drama in a Jane Austen era, American
Phoenix is a timely yet timeless addition to the recent renaissance of
works on the founding Adams family, from patriarchs John and Abigail to the second-generation
of John Quincy and Louisa and beyond.
Cook
has crafted not only a riveting narrative but also an easy-to-understand
history filled with fly-on-the-wall vignettes from 1812 and its hardscrabble,
freedom-hungry people. While unveiling vivid portrayals of each character-a
colorful assortment of heroes and villains, patriots and pirates, rogues and
rabble-rousers-she paints equally fresh, intimate portraits of both John Quincy
and Louisa Adams. Cook artfully reveals John Quincy's devastation after losing
the job of his dreams, battle for America's need to thrive economically, and
sojourn to secure his homeland's survival as a sovereign nation. She reserves
her most detailed brushstrokes for the inner struggles of Louisa, using this
quietly inspirational woman's own words to amplify her fears, faith, and
fortitude along a deeply personal, often heart-rending journey. Cook's close-up
perspective shows how this American couple's Russian destination changed US
destiny.
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