As America's first female playwright, nonfiction writer, and copyright holder, Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814) deserves more fame than she currently has. This dry biography by Nancy Rubin Stuart is unlikely to bring it to her. Much of the book is not about Mercy herself, but about the early American history in general, Mercy's male relatives, and her close friends John and Abigail Adams. Mercy herself comes across as a privileged yet prim and often sickly woman who believes in revolutionary ideals, but who also longs for domestic tranquility and relief from loneliness. Her unhinged brother Jemmy and her scofflaw son Winslow are more interesting than she is.

If there is an upside to this book, it is that it made me want to read Mercy's poems, plays and letters (as well as her three-volume masterwork, History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution), for myself. ( )

I dressed up as Mercy Otis Warren for Halloween. Yea, I know - nerdy - but that's how I roll. I figured, since all I'd ever read about her was a Wikipedia page, I should learn more. I am SO glad I did. In addition to downloading her complete works on my kindle ($3, thanks to Amazon), I purchase this biography. It was enlightening to read about her. Stuart did an excellent job of portraying Warren truthfully - a caring, tempestuous, high-strung, warm, witty, loving, forceful genius who was stalwart and constant during a time of turmoil and danger. My only qualm with Stuart's work is the tendency to jump around in the earlier chapters. This is perhaps to overlapping storyline and time frames, but it was mildly confusing. However, as the book procedure, this ceased to be an issue. While the focus was on Warren, Stuart does an excellent job of explain the time and history and events surrounding Mercy. I was glad of this. I didn't realize my knowledge of the Revolution and it's aftermath was so lacking. I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a well told biography! ( )