Hamilton & Peggy: A Revolutionary Friendship

Peggy Schuyler is more than “and Peggy” in this new YA historical take on the Schuyler sisters and their adventures in the Revolutionary War. While the love story of Eliza and Alexander Hamilton is woven through this story, the novel really focuses on Peggy and her life on the inside of such an important family to the Revolution and the important roles she played while her sisters worried about falling in love. It’s perfect for lovers of the musical but also lovers of strong female characters and historical YA.

This book is not a recap of Hamilton: An American Musical from Peggy’s point of view, rather it focuses on Peggy’s young adult years, 18-21ish, and the crux of the Revolutionary War in which things didn’t look so great for the US, but then the French got involved. We see Angelica’s elopement with John Carter and Hamilton’s courtship of Eliza but we also see Philip Schuyler’s life as he loses his command and attempts to regain it and the Schuyler family’s role in ferreting out spies and their fight to save their house from Loyalist attack and their interactions with General George Washington. The novel ends before America really begins, before Washington becomes the first president, but it’s still an absolutely fascinating read.

Ultimately, I highly recommend this book if you love historical YA fiction and the entire essence that is Hamilton. I didn’t fly through this book like I wish I had, but I enjoyed it, and it had some real high points, including the very end. I’m anticipating another book in the series that explores Peggy’s life after the Revolution, but stay tuned.