We loved this book and had a new appreciation for our founding mothers. We met at Phyllis's house and had early american menu items. A favorite was Martha Washington's crab bisque. ( )

In a conversational tone, Roberts shares some of the stories about the women who founded the country. She, too, had been tired of hearing about how remarkable the men were founded the country: what about the women? This, then, is full of some of their stories.

The book had plenty of flaws. Most of the author’s asides and explanations were rather distracting, and it sometimes felt rambling and off-topic. I do wish it was better written or at least better organized. The casual tone made me feel like I was listening to random anecdotes rather than a comprehensive historical account. It didn’t feel comprehensive, nor did it feel like a true historical record. It was a collection of stories about women, full of sometimes extraneous detail. And there were a lot of women!

However, because I was listening to the audiobook in short intervals, such an anecdotal format was okay for me. And the details did make it interesting.

I may remember some interesting facts and the names. I’m already forgetting most of the details, and some of the women are mixing up in my mind. That’s okay for me. I’ve had an entertaining and yet informative introduction to the founding ladies of the United States. I’m glad I checked it out.

More thoughts on my blog

General Cornwallis of the British Army once lamented that even if he destroyed all the men in America, he'd still have the women to contend with. This book by Cokie Roberts profiles some of those amazing women of the Revolutionary era. Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Deborah Franklin, Mercy Otis Warren, Katy Green, and Eliza Pinckney are just a few of the women in this book.

Pros: The women! I enjoyed learning about their lives and struggles.

Lots of stuff I never heard before. History class tends to focus on the generals, the presidents, etc. But their wives and mothers were no less interesting, and in some cases, were even more influential.

Cons: The format. Roberts uses a chronological format, which helps tie each woman into her place in history, and gives you a feel for how they are related to one another, but it got confusing and yes, boring at times. I mean, I know who won the war. It's the women I wanted to read about.

Not enough pictures. In fact, the only pictures are one on the first page of each chapter. That's it. I wanted more.

The writing itself. In some places, she let her own opinions come out, but not often enough. It was a little impersonal.

Recommended for history buffs, especially female ones. ( )

While this book has lots of interesting tidbits it's interrupted by long periods of yawning. I wish it was more of a coherent story line between the interesting tidbits. ( )

I looked forward to reading this book, but I felt the arrangement of the information was disjointed and poorly organized. ( )

An interesting, though not particularly deep, look at the female relations of the men who get written about in the history books. Unfortunately, although Roberts makes much of the historical context when discussing how the women broke out of the mold, she does not give the historical context much thought when it comes to the men, leading her to be a bit harsh on the men sometimes.

Perhaps a bit more problematic is that approximately the entire second half of the book is really the same story about the men that we already know, with just brief glimpses of the women. What are we supposed to take away from this? That there's only enough about the "Founding Mothers" to write half a book? Or that, in the end, as interesting as they were, it wasn't the women who made the history after all? Well, we probably already knew that. But this book does give a brief glimpse into the trials and tribulations of the women behind the men. ( )

This is a great book about some of the founding mothers. There are many history books out there that focus on our founding fathers but nothing on the women. Women's history is fairly new (began in the 1970s) and this is a great addition. I have read some of this but plan to finish it in the future and thus far, I love it. ( )

I'll admit I didn't finish the book. Though I'd normally find the subject interesting, the way it's presented is lacking. The narration, for example, leaves the women to do their own thing for long stretches in favor of discussing what their husbands are doing, or, more annoying, things that seem to bear little influence on how women helped shape the early United States. While some discussion of context is, of course, necessary, such discussion is taken too far. Such over-contextualizing is not helped by Roberts's tone, which often drifts to downright chattiness. While such a tone might work well on the radio -- Roberts comes across intelligently on her reports for NPR -- it does not work well in print, and greatly hinders readability. It is possible to write good, readable history without being stiff (Alison Weir is one writer who has mastered this). But based on this book, Roberts still hasn't worked out what is suitable for radio and what is suitable for the printed page. Read Gail Collins's America's Women instead. ( )

I'm torn between this is terribly boring and it's also interesting. I'm falling asleep every time I pick it up. This is difficult to follow, it seems the information jumps around too much. ( )

an interesting look at the mothers, daughters, nieces and wives of the founding fathers. many who are often overlooked in American history. ( )

This book provides an interesting look at the mothers of the founding fathers. Although poorly organized, the book provides insights into the lives of well-known as well as lesser-known women. ( )

"The Women who raised our nation" ( )