American Phoenix

March 4, 2013
Despite an overblown title and occasional moments of melodrama (“Comets have a bad reputation. They are known for letting their hair down and growing a brilliant train as they head for earth”), this is a serviceable dual biography of John Quincy and Louisa Adams during the former’s service as United States envoy to Russia (1809–1814) and throughout his negotiations with Britain that produced the Treaty of Ghent and ended the War of 1812. Media commentator and presidential historian Cook (Stories of Faith and Courage from the Revolutionary War) draws heavily from diaries and voluminous correspondences to render the couple’s daily and inner struggles, and she sets these against a backdrop of Napoleon’s maneuvering for Moscow and detailed descriptions of the Byzantine ceremony, intrigue, and diplomacy of Czar Alexander’s court. Old-school historians might recoil at Cook’s embellishments (e.g., invented dialogue and insight into everyone’s thoughts), but fans of historical fiction will appreciate her approach and come away with a satisfying picture of the man who would become our sixth president and his resilient wife. Agent: Jonathan Clements, Wheelhouse Literary Group.

April 15, 2013
John Quincy Adams spent several years as the American diplomatic representative in Russia, at the height of the Napoleonic wars. Here's the story. Cook (The Faith of American's First Ladies, 2006, etc.) gives as much space to Louisa, Adams' English-born wife, as to the future president. Adams, a compulsively honest and frugal man, was hard-pressed to keep up with the extravagant lifestyles expected of the diplomatic corps in St. Petersburg. The situation was complicated by the Napoleonic wars, in which American interests seemed distant and trivial to the European powers, especially England and France, both of which set up trade barriers against American merchants. Adams' job was to work out an agreement with the Russians, giving the fledgling country at least one large trading partner in Europe. Luckily, Czar Alexander took a liking to the Adamses and helped smooth their way in the tricky maze of high Russian society. Adams' ordeal included horrible traveling conditions, stubborn bureaucrats, a hostile French ambassador and a chronic shortage of money. But Louisa, one of the few diplomatic wives in Russia, had far worse to deal with--not just separation from their two young sons, but two miscarriages and the death of her 1-year-old daughter. Eventually, as the War of 1812 broke out, the czar offered his services to mediate between England and America, an offer declined by the British. Eventually, Adams was called to Ghent, where he helped negotiate the treaty that ended the war. Louisa, after a year waiting behind in Russia, undertook a harrowing journey to rejoin him in Paris. Cook, drawing on the journals of both the Adamses, gives a detailed if sometimes overwrought account of their experiences. Interestingly, the book is set in the same time and place as War and Peace and sheds considerable light on the background of that novel. A well-researched treatment of two interesting figures in one of the most eventful times in world history. Though a bit plodding at first, it's well worth sticking with it.

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April 15, 2013
In a marriage that lasted more than 50 years, John Quincy and Louisa Adams shared a life as full and eventful as John Quincy's more celebrated parents, John and Abigail Adams. Here, Cook concentrates on a critical phase of their personal lives as well as an important formative period in the history of the young American republic. In 1809, John Quincy was appointed first minister to the Russian court. Distance and the severe climate meant it wasn't a plum assignment, but it became an increasingly important one. Louisa, not blessed with good health, found their stay especially difficult; her two young sons were left at home, and she endured the sorrow of the death of an infant daughter. Yet Cook utilizes the letters and diaries of the Adamses to indicate that she was a great asset, using her social graces to compensate for John's blunt, gruff manner. She also traversed a war-torn continent in an effort to rejoin John in Paris. Historians may question Cook's assertion that the diplomatic efforts of the Adamses saved American independence, but this is an informative, easily digestible glimpse at a successful political partnership.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)