Description: Born in London in 1775 to a Maryland merchant and his English wife, Louisa recalls her childhood and education in England and France and her courtship with John Quincy. Her diaries reveal a reluctant but increasingly canny political wife. Her husband emerges in a fullness seldom seen--ambitious and exacting, yet passionate, generous, and gallant.
Brief description: Margaret A. Hogan is an independent scholar and former editor of the Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society.