Today's guest has visited us many times in the past but Diana Rubino is returning today with her novel, Mrs. Aaron Burr - I'm Eliza to You.
Take it away, Diana!
Mrs. Aaron Burr - I'm Eliza to You is part of my "The Sassy Lady" series and my latest biographical romantic novel. It is a true rags-to-riches story: how “Bouncin’ Bet Bowen” who believed George Washington was her father, (he could have been) became Eliza Jumel Burr, wife of Vice President Aaron Burr and New York City’s wealthiest woman.
How interesting! Tell us more...
From the streets of Providence to the grandeur of a New York City mansion, Betsy Bowen - later known as Madame Eliza Jumel Burr, who believed George Washington was her father - lived a life marked with secret longing and bold ambition.
Although her business partnership with the French merchant Stephen Jumel was a cordial one, affording her power in real estate, her heart belonged to Vice President Aaron Burr. Their complex and passionate relationship spanned decades.
When the widower Aaron turned down her marriage proposal, she faked her own death to get Stephen to marry her. She then purchased the historic Mount Morris in Washington Heights and renamed it the Morris-Jumel Mansion. Soon after Stephen's death, she and Aaron finally wed, but their marriage culminated in scandal and betrayal.
Set against the backdrop of America's formative years, Eliza's life reflects the tumultuous society of their time. She left a lasting legacy in the very walls of the mansion that once hosted the nation's founders.
Wow, great blurb! Can we get an excerpt?
Sure!
Wednesday, July 11, 1804, a day I’ll never forget, I rose early from fitful sleep. Two of my cooks huddled in the kitchen, murmuring instead of cooking. They held the newspaper wide open.
When I walked in, they froze as if turned to stone, and held the paper out to me.
“What is it?” Seeing the paper, I trembled. My mouth dried up. “Oh, no …” I hid my eyes with my hands, I couldn’t bear to look.
“M-Miss Eliza …” Mary stammered. “Vice President Burr shot General Hamilton in a duel.”
Too weak to stand, I grabbed a chair and sank into it. “He …shot Hamilton?” My head spun, dizzy with relief. But I still didn’t know about Aaron. “Is he all right? The vice president?”
“It doesn’t say, ma’am. It just says General Hamilton was mortally wounded.”
Without another word, I ran down the hall, threw open the front door, not closing it behind me, and raced to Gold Street in the gathering morning heat. Humidity soaked my clothes. I mopped sweat from my face.
I banged on his door. No answer. “Aaron, please open the door, we need to talk!” I banged again. Echoes answered me. I stepped back and squinted into the sunlight, shading my eyes to see the upper windows. Nothing stirred. The house was shut tight. He’d fled. But where? When would I see my beloved again?
Hamilton died the next day, and the city fell to its knees in mourning. It was even more pronounced than when Papa passed – because Hamilton was one of New York’s own.
Public grief over Hamilton paled beside the anger at Aaron. As I approached Trinity Church for the funeral, Gouverneur Morris greeted me. “I’m to deliver the eulogy. But indignation mounts to a frenzy already,” he cautioned me, eyeing the mob.
The tolling church bells and muffled drumbeats echoed through the sweltering city air. I thought of every place Aaron could be. I knew he hadn’t meant for this to happen. It was a tragic twist of fate. I also knew Aaron’s political career was over. He’d never be president.
“Oh, Aaron,” I wailed, “Where are you, my love?”
But his prediction had come true. He was the one who walked away.
***
I heard nothing from him as each empty day slipped away. Desperate, I wrote to his daughter Theodosia but received no reply. I contacted his friends, but no one knew his whereabouts.
I saw Mrs. Hamilton on the Broad Way, head to toe in widow’s weeds. I wanted to approach her and offer my condolences, but she knew I was intimate with the vice president, so I kept my distance. Their country home, The Grange, was not far from the Mount Morris mansion I planned to buy. We’d be neighbors someday.
Wonderful, Diana now tell us a little more about yourself and where we can find Mrs. Aaron Burr online...
