Rita Kerr

Texas' First Lady is a biography of Sam Houston's wife, Margaret, written for young people. We follow Margaret from her life as a young girl in Alabama to her eventually meeting and marrying a much older Sam Houston through their life together and Margaret's eventually widowhood and death from yellow fever. What it lacks in objectiveness, it makes up with its obvious love for its subject. Also worth noting is that when this was written in the 80s, you could portray slaveholders as good if you showed how benevolent they were, and this book is no exception.

Unfortunately, the only other biography of Margaret that I know of, Sam Houston's Wife by William Seale, has such a condescending take on Margaret that it at times seems almost misogynistic, which makes for a rather unpleasant read (if you don't like or respect your subject why write about them?). So we're rather stuck with this one and all its flaws. But it's a fun read about an interesting woman who deserves to be known more widely than she is right now.… (mais)