Dolley Mass market paperbound - 1995

First line

What a liar and a hypocrite I've become.

From the jacket flap

She had the president's ear and the nation's heart.
She's the wife of the fourth president of the United States; a spirited charmer who adores parties, the latest French fashions, and the tender, brilliant man who is her husband. But while many love her, few suspect how complex Dolley Madison really is. Only in the pages of her diary--as imagined by novelist Rita Mae Brown--can Dolley fully reveal herself. And there we discover the real first lady--impulsive, courageous, and wise--as she faces her harshest trial: in 1814, the United States is once more at war with mighty Britain, and her beloved James is the most hated man in America.
From the White House receptions she gaily presides over to her wild escape from a Washington under siege, "Dolley gives us a legend, made warmly human. For there has never been a first lady so testedeor one who came through the fire so brilliantly.

Media reviews

"Full-blown and vibrant."—Booklist

"[Dolley P. Madison] is revealed as an enchantingly imperfect First Ladyè. Eight years of research went into this book, and it shows. Brown's version of the day Dolley salvages the Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washingtonè is a humdinger."—Chicago Tribune