"Best of women" is how Alexander Hamilton described his wife, Eliza. And although Eliza was far too modest to accept such praise, her famous husband was right.

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton was born during the reign of King George II and died not long before the Civil War. She had a front-row seat to the early history of the United States, and her mark on our country is felt to this day.

Eliza was instrumental in aiding the career of her husband, who would become the first United States Secretary of the Treasury; she cofounded New York's first private orphanage, which still exists today; she preserved letters and documents from the nation's early history; she raised money to erect the Washington Monument; and she did it all while attracting little attention to herself. But history could not overlook her.

Award-winning author Margaret McNamara adopts the voice of Eliza Hamilton in this imagined letter detailing Eliza's story. Esmé Shapiro's naïve paintings evoke and mirror the folk art style of the period. Complemented by a sparkling afterword by Phillipa Soo, who originated the role of Eliza in the musical Hamilton on Broadway, this collaboration captures the wise and dauntless spirit of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton: activist, philanthropist, and quiet participant in American history.

From the dust jacket