Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution by Amanda Vaill

 

The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution by Amanda Vaill. Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 2025. Adult nonfiction. History. 720 pages.

     Readers who are familiar with the Hamilton musical, will immediately recognize the Schuyler sisters. Angelica and Eliza and Peggy are central to the Alexander Hamilton tale. In this well researched and documented history of the Schuyler family and the early history of America, Amanda Vaill has done a masterful job of showing their influence on the events of the American Revolution itself. The two beautiful older sisters, Angelica Church, and Eliza Hamilton share a deep love for Alexander Hamilton himself. Interestingly, when Hamilton is killed in a duel with Aaron Burr, Eliza advocates for saving his papers and documents and his place in American history. She outlives him by decades. 

from online: 

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD IN BIOGRAPHY
FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN BIOGRAPHY

"Marvelous . . . An act not only of recovery, but of world building." --The Atlantic

"A thoroughly fascinating biography, filled with Vaill's signature warmth, humor and insight." --The New York Times Book Review

"Elegantly written, intimately detailed and infused with feeling, a gripping account of these two remarkable women, their elite family and their tumultuous era." --The Wall Street Journal

"One of our great biographers takes the sisters out of Hamilton's supporting cast and puts them front and center." --Town & Country

America's founding era reconsidered through the lives of two women as formidable as, and in some respects stronger than, the men they loved, married, and mothered.

Big Little Truths: A Novel by Liane Moriarty

 

Big Little Truths: A Novel by Liane Moriarty. Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, 2026. Adult contemporary fiction. 447 pages.

     If you have read BIG LITTLE LIES or seen the Netflix series based on that book, you will be familiar with these characters. The book is set in Australia, but the series was set in Monterey, California. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep, the series basically follows the book's five main female characters. A forward to this new book explains a few exceptions.

     In this novel, the former first grade children are now teenagers. The parents have aged as well and face typical mid-life crises such as aging parents, health issues, and dealing with teen angst. Chapters alternate between the handful of women who are the main characters. The teens talk themselves at the ends of many chapters. One new character is the new high school principal. The new high school history teacher, Melody Montclair, and her handsome husband become central to the plot. As always, the author weaves the story carefully and you really don't have to have read the first book to understand this one.  It's hard to put the book down near the end as actions race to a surprising conclusion.