A Review of Alex and Eliza

Alex and Eliza is a historical fiction novel by Melissa de la Cruz. It focuses the relationship between Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler. They Schuyler's are a rich family from New York, however some of their fortune has been lost recently. The three eldest children are the sisters Angelica, Eliza and Peggy, whose mother is attempting to set them up with suitable husbands. At a ball, Eliza Schuyler meets the dashing young Colonel Alexander Hamilton... while he's there to serve a court-martial to her father, so they don't exactly hit it off.

Historical fiction has a lot of requirements. It has to inform people not familiar with a subject about

the basic events, without boring people who know a lot about it. It has to educate. It has to stay within the confines of actual real life events. It has to add enough detail to make the reader feel like they were actually there, while not bogging the text down with description. Historical fiction can make a person feel like they have travelled in time. And it has to be interesting. One of the things that historical fiction can do well is keep the personal aspect of history in the forefront of peoples minds, which can get lost in a dry history lecture or textbook. Good historical fiction can encourage people to seek out more information about the subject at hand.

This book does a good job in invoking it's time and place. It's rather well-written in that respect, using language which feels historical, but is still a light read. It made me feel like I was there, which given that it describes a place foreign to me, is a plus. It uses descriptions of things like the particular smell of pomade lard to bring the reader into the story. Things like the feeling of cold (something a lot of people have experienced) can really help to bring people into a characters shoes. However, I feel I know little more about the American Revolution than I did before I read.

I know very little about the American history, for reasons I hope are obvious. And if someone asks
me about the civil war*, I'll assume they mean the one between Cromwell and Charles I. I've listened to a few Hamilton songs, but I haven't managed to see the musical live yet. And I haven't listened to it all the way through, because I haven't wanted to spoil the musical for me.

*pause while people who obviously know every historical event ever laugh at the idea of being spoiled by history*

Obviously, historical fiction may not always be perfectly accurate. No-one can know what was said between Alex and Eliza when they were in private. And many details of their relationship have been lost to history. This is something that everyone needs to bare in mind while reading this book, or indeed any work of historical fiction. I knew how their relationship develops after the time period covered in the book, and that made reading it a bittersweet experience to me.

Another issue with writing historical fiction based on real people is that many of them were truly awful. When I talk about the people in this section, I am referring to them as characters in this book, since obviously I don't know what they were like in real life. Eliza is very much the standard historical heroine model, and described as Not Like Other Girls a lot. She's prettier than her sisters, but she doesn't know it and tends to dress plainer, which only enhances her beauty. She's got no desire to dress in these overly-elaborate clothes her mother sets out for her. Besides, they offend her principles. While other women are happy to swan around balls, looking for a husband, Eliza is trying to support the Revolution's cause every way she can. However, the book doesn't decry that sort of behaviour, recognising it as a necessary way women conducted themselves in society. Angelica and Peggy are both characters in the novel, and both recognise the importance of finding a husband, especially for a family in hard times. Alex is nice, he shows respect to Eliza which stands him apart from her other suitors, he treats her like an intelligent and opinionated person. There is also a certain romantic charm in historical gentlemen that I feel goes somewhat missing in contemporaries. He treats everyone with diplomacy, until such point as they show they don't deserve it. He is also ambitious, however, as raising himself from nothing to become General Washington's right-hand man would imply.

Trigger Warning: One scene of sexual assault, quite late into the book.

I would recommend this book for people with little knowledge about the American Revolution to give them a brief overview of the events.

*I know the American Revolution and the American Civil War are different events.

If you've never listened to a Hamilton song (or even if you have) do yourself a favour and watch this video!