BOOK REVIEW: Unwise Passions

It has often been said that truth is stranger than fiction. To me that means that sometimes a book based on well-documented facts can be the most fascinating book of the week.

UNWISE PASSIONS by Alan Pell Crawford is an excellent example of a true story that will keep you up at night until the last page. It is the book to give the friend who is interested in the early struggles of our country, as well as introducing us to a remarkable woman, woman who was at the center of what is considered to be the First Great Scandal of Eighteen-Century America.

Anne Cary Randolph, known to her family and friends as Nancy, and her sister Judith Randolph were part of the Randolph family of Virginia. The family was the closest thing to royalty that the new country had. Among their brothers and sister was Thomas Mann Randolph who was married to Martha (Patsy) Jefferson, daughter of Thomas Jefferson.

Patsy and Thomas were cousins, as were Judith and her husband Richard Randolph. Their family tree shows that this was a common practice. It was said that only a Randolph was good enough to marry a Randolph.

The book centers on Nancy Randolph. Nancy appears to have been a pretty, vivacious girl. She had received several offers of marriage, but became engaged to Theodorick one of Richard’s brothers. In the process she had turned down his other brother John.

Theo dies before they can be married and rumors start that Nancy and Richard, her brother-in-law, have had a child and murdered it. Not only were they accused of murder, but of incest. Marrying first cousins was not against the law, but an affair with a brother-in-law was.

Through the following trial and Nancy’s life after Richard’s death, the reader gets to see many of the political figures of the time. Crawford has been very diligent in his research. His notes at the end of the book give credit to the letters and diaries from the time. Because most of the cast of characters were well known, their correspondence has saved.

Although I had trouble keeping the Randolph family names straight at first, I soon became very intrigued by these real people. I learned more about Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Gouverneur Morris than I ever got in history classes.

If the beginning of our country and a personal glimpse of some of our founding fathers are of interest to you, this is an excellent find. If you just like to read about interesting people and how strong the human spirit is, this is a good book for you. It is always fascinating to see how people, politics, and scandal do not change much over the years.