It is easy to see this novel's appeal. Who isn't a little bit interested in the romantic side of George Washington? We know him as a battle-hardened soldier and stoic statesman, but a lovelorn young man - that's more difficult to envision. So, I jumped at the chance to read this book through NetGalley.

I really enjoyed the style of writing and the inclusion of excerpts from historical documents and letters. This added an authentic feel to the story, almost as if I was reading nonfiction....but that's also where my biggest issue comes in. By writing this story and inserting so many words actually spoken by Washington, the author makes it appear that her version of the story is correct. George and Mary must have been desperately in love, and Washington must have turned irreversibly against the British because of their thwarted romance.

Except that we don't know that is true. It is widely believed that Mary simply turned George down because she had higher prospects...better offers. That may be difficult for us to believe, knowing what we know, but who could have guessed that George Washington would become the most important man in US history? Even if she had an inkling, Mary is well documented to have been a staunch loyalist her entire life, so maybe she just thought their beliefs were incompatible.

However, it is not the job of a novelist to document history, but to follow trails that strict historians cannot follow, and Calvi's is an interesting and well-written exploration. I was so caught up in George and Mary's courtship that I wanted them to be together. I couldn't imagine what had brought such an enchanted relationship to an end. I was heartbroken for them both, even if I wasn't entirely convinced that George would base his involvement in the revolution upon what happened between them.

One more note that is probably minor to most readers, but I did not like the idea of George and Mary revisiting their feelings some 20 years later during the war. As much as I like what-could-have-happened storylines, I do not like them at the expense of the reputations and values of real historical figures. While some readers might find this part of the book romantic, I don't find adultery romantic and doubt George Washington would either. (Haven't we been reading his strict rules of behavior throughout the novel? Loved that part.)

So, while I end this book with some mixed feelings, I cannot deny that is is well-written and deeply researched. A worthy and unique read for those interested in lesser known aspects of the Founding Fathers' lives.

DEAR GEORGE, DEAR MARY is the story about George Washington's relationship with Mary Philipse. Mary Calvi has written a story based on hundreds of letters, witness accounts, and journal entries, reconstructing George Washington courting of New York heiress Mary Philipse.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION: http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=67822

Tl;dr: An interesting premise that can't decide if it's fiction or nonfiction and the result is a dense almost story that fails to convince.

The idea behind Dear George, Dear Mary is a great one--what about George Washington's life prior to the Revolutionary War helped shape him?--and how did his romance with Mary Philipse play a role?

Mary Calvi definitely did her research, which is wonderful, but instead of using it to build a story, she just uses it--presents it--which would be fine in nonfiction but simply doesn't work for building a compelling story. I didn't care about George or Mary enough and didn't buy the bridge she was trying to sell regarding Mary and George and the beginnings of his place in the Revolutionary War.

Most importantly, I didn't believe in the romance despite of, or more accurately, because of, the use of the (yes, well-researched, but so dry!) chunks of documents (with an emphasis on military movements, etc.) that I think were meant to convince but left me feeling like I'd read about the idea of the romance instead of getting actual romance.

And I really wanted the ronance! Again, the idea of Dear George, Dear Mary is great. And after this book, I don't doubt that their relationship was real or meaningful I just didn't believe in it.

Would have been better as nonfiction.

Well researched but not much else. Novel drags and suffers from the authors need to show off how much she knows

I’m always a little hesitant to read biographical novels because it’s hard to separate the truth from the fiction, but I couldn’t resist this one because it just sounded so interesting. When I think of George Washington and his personal life it’s Martha who comes to mind. This book tells the story of a romance in Washington’s earlier life with Mary Philipse, a young NY heiress. The author assures the reader in her opening note that the novel is based on “thousands of letters, journal entries, publications, and other sources related to George Washington.” It appears to be well researched given what she tells us as well as the numerous sources listed. I thought I would be fascinated, but I just wasn’t. The language was too flowery for me. The addition of a quote at the beginning of each chapter from Washington, while interesting , felt added in, rather than part of the narrative. The suggested premise that this relationship may have been an impetus for the American Revolution was hard for me to buy. The bottom line is that this just wasn’t for me. I have no problem giving up on a book that isn’t working for me, but I kept reading because I really liked Mary’s character and wanted to see what would happen to her. There are many highly rated reviews and I suggest that fans of historical romance read these before taking just my word.


I received an advanced copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley.

Set against the backdrop of the American Revolution, "Dear George, Dear Mary" gives a glimpse into George Washington's first love and the letters that they shared.

This book was interesting on many levels. Not many hear about his first love, but we all know his wife, Martha.
The story was interesting and captivating. There were a few areas where it was rather slow, but then it would drag you back in.

Great read if you enjoy historical fiction! Based on the actual letters, this is a must read for summer.

Oh sigh. I enjoyed this blend of fact and fiction despite my serious issue with the suggestion that the American Revolution had it roots in a romantic relationship. George Washington looms larger than life in so much of our understanding of Colonial America and there are many many tales about him- some true, some not. Mary Philipse was new to me. Calvi has clearly done an immense amount of research to pull together this novel of Washington's first love. The challenge is that you have more of a sense of Washington than of Philpse and even less so of their love affair. Admittedly, letters from this time frame were written in a far different way than modern romance novels but still.... I think I would have liked this more had Calvi sacrificed some of that wonderful research and realism and gone all in for imagining and coloring the relationship as has been done in other novels of this genre. That said, it's a good and educational read that will send you to do some googling for more info. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I really struggled to get into this book and sadly had to abandon, I might try again at another time.

This was a really interesting historical fiction/romance novel. Once I got used to the writing style and language, I got into the plot of the book and the characters came alive. It was easy to follow, although I will say some basic pre- and Revolutionary War history knowledge is very helpful here. There were some less interesting parts but overall I enjoyed it very much.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2.5/5 stars.

Dear George, Dear Mary presented a very compelling story in its blurb—the story of George Washington's relationship with his first love, Mary Philipse, sourced almost entirely from letters and diary entries the two had written. As a lover of all things historical fiction, and especially historical fiction that sticks close to the facts of real events, I was excited for this one. However, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

I often complain when historical fiction books aren't historically accurate or have too much made up stuff in them; this book suffered from the opposite problem. This book seemed very confused about whether it wanted to be fiction or non-fiction, which took away a lot of the enjoyment for me. When I go into a fiction book, I want story and feelings and relatable or at least sympathetic characters. When I go into a non-fiction book, I expect to learn and absorb a lot of information. With this book, which couldn't make up its mind, you lost some of the feeling/emotion of good fiction but also lost the "facts" of the non-fiction among the story.

Those were my main two issues with this book. I didn't feel very connected to Mary OR George, despite the fact that this was a love story and should have had some romance/swooning involved, and I also got REALLY bored and zoned out everything there was a long passage quoted from a historical document. A snippet of a letter from Mary to George or vice versa would have been a nice touch every once in a while in this book, but I didn't need long passages quoted from all of George's letters to other military officials, especially when they had nothing to do with the main plot of the story. They bogged down the story and made it harder to read, which is quite a shame. I had never heard of Mary Philipse before, but it sounds like she had a really interesting life and her relationship with George actually seemed more profound than the one she had with her husband or that George had with Martha. I wish I had enjoyed learning about her more.

Overall, I just wish Calvi would have been more decisive in writing either a historical FICTION book that focused on the romance and relationship of George and Mary or just said she was doing a non-fiction book on this and focused on the academic/historical source side of the book. I feel if she'd focused on the feelings of Mary and George's relationship more, I would have felt more connection to the characters and enjoyed this book much more immensely, just as I would have enjoyed it more if she made it entirely non-fiction and I went into this with the intent to read a non-fiction book and learn about the pair in an academic sense.

I give this book a 2.5/5 stars. It gets props for the interesting subject matter and for the few chapters where we actually saw Mary and George interacting, because I greatly enjoyed those, but the rest of the book falls flat for a lack of character development and dry passages that quote directly from historical sources. I wanted more story or more non-fiction, but this mix of both didn't work for me, unfortunately.

I loved the idea of this book. It was a topic that I knew little about and I was looking forward to reading the fictionalized version of George Washington's relationship with his Mary during the pre-revolutionary war time period. I enjoyed reading the beginning of the story about the ball, but after that, I was not connected. The characters did not draw me in and the descriptions were long. I think the book was well-researched, but there is not a lot about the politics of the time period or any other topic with depth. The relationship between George and Mary was not that interesting as it was written. I enjoyed learning about the social rules and strictures of the time period, however, the story itself lay flat for me. I did not become connected to it and skimmed often.

When I read the synopsis of this book I was very interested in the story. However, as soon as I began the first chapter, it failed to grab me. I read the book, but never gained an affinity for the story. I was lukewarm to each chapter, hoping my feelings would change, but alas, they didn't, This novel was a miss for me.

Dear George, Dear Mary: A Novel of George Washington's First Love is a great read. I give it four and a half stars.

A historical fiction account of George Washington's relationship with Mary Philipse. Based on actual letters it was interesting but at times confusing to follow I would recommend it to anyone interesting in George Washington or the american revolution.

"Mary Eliza lay upon cold leaves whose color had washed away a season ago. ,wishing she could bring back the living . Dead things surrounded her.Every flower bug hung shriveled . The dull winter had brought only a few flakes.Spring ,when fragrance emerged from its cocoon,was her favorite time of year. That was not this time. Today there emitted not even a scent to smell."

I loved Mary and George but I couldn't feel an connection to either. The dialogue and descriptions of events was fine.

"I have branded her with a one and a w,for I have only one wish for my mary eliza.papa said my wish for you is freedom let go and allow the happiness to find its way to your heart."

"Mary tried to hold back the thrill that raced through,knowing George might be in the manor once more. Would he kiss her hand again?Might she feel his lips upon her?"

updated the blog as well with some favorite parts

Before he was president, before the fight for freedom began, George Washington was a young man looking for love. He found it in Mary Eliza Philipse, a New York heiress, with shadows hanging over her. With a love so strong, what happens to keep them apart?

Before I picked up this book, I was not aware of Mary Philipe’s existence. I was fascinated that the narrative was pulled from history itself, from the letters exchanged between Mary and George and journals kept by them both. Even knowing George would marry another, I wanted to see these two, who were so in love, to be happy together.

That being said, I found it hard to believe that the separation was key to George Washington’s hatred for the British. Did it cause resentment, maybe. One small reason among many other more monumental reason, perhaps. Did it “spark a flame that ignited a cause that became the American Revolution?” I don’t think so.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I would recommend it to historical fiction readers who have a taste for fictional tellings based on historical fact. I received a copy through NetGalley for reviewing purposes and all opinions expressed are my own.

A fictionalized account of George Washington's relationship with Mary Philipse. Sweet and readable.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author. All opinions are my own.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. I enjoyed this historical fiction about the life of George Washington. Many new facts were made known to me about one of our founding fathers. I would highly recommend this enjoyable novel.

1756, Yonkers-On-Hudson, NY

Mary Eliza Philipse is nervous about the upcoming ball at Philipse Manor. She is to celebrate her 21st birthday and 220 guests including the most celebrated colonel of the colonies, George Washington, are to be attending.

1753, Fredericksburg, Virginia

George Washington walks alone in wilderness in the early hours of the morning as he is to deliver a letter, he thinks “Tis better to be alone than in bad company.”

“As a boy, he had written down 110 rules that he had learned from a prominent book on correct behavior. George strove to incorporate each of them into his conduct. Anything he learned, he had to do on his own. Without a father in his home, 110 rules was, at least, a start.”

He is sent on a mission to deliver the governor’s letter to the fortress of the French and demand surrender. He doesn’t have military or diplomatic experience, or formal education. But he has “the resolve to become a man worthy of respect.”

Washington’s story begins 3 years earlier and runs parallel with Mary reading The Journal of Major George Washington of his events at the French fortress.

The beginning of the story is very engrossing, but once the ball happens, the progressive story becomes less and less progressive and more and more descriptive. And that’s not a style of writing I like. But of course it might be to someone else’s liking.

I loved the description of this novel and was thrilled to be given the opportunity to read it. It is a good historical romance, set in a fascinating period of a man that became our first president. I will be honest, it was hard for me to get into the book, there was a lot of detail but not as much of a story. It was definitely a different side of George Washington and the story of Mary Philipse was interesting but it was hard for me to finish. It didn't keep my interest as much as I thought it would.