This Independence Day is the perfect time to revisit moments when American historical fiction, both on the page and on the screen, made us swoon, brought to you by the authors of America’s First Daughter.
Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie are the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling authors of America’s First Daughter. They share with us 10 times history made them swoon!
- Eliza and Alexander meeting in Hamilton: An American Musical. Amidst the boisterous musical that has taken the nation by storm is a romance — not just between America and its first treasury secretary, but between Alexander Hamilton and his extraordinary wife. One of the signature moments of Hamiltonian charm happens in the first-act number, “Winter’s Ball,” when Hamilton kisses the hand of his bride-to-be and says, “If it took fighting a war for us to meet, it will have been worth it.”
- John Andre pulling Peggy Shippen into a passionate kiss on TURN: Washington’s Spies. What could stand in the way of the love between a British spymaster, and the daughter of a loyalist in Philadelphia? Why, the American Revolution and Benedict Arnold, that’s what. But before this delicious love affair stumbles, viewers are treated to a heart-stopping kiss.
- Jamie Fraser losing his virginity to Claire Beauchamp in Outlander. The wedding was romantic, but the wedding night, with its sexual education of the young, heroic Highlander, had all of us sighing in delight. While this technically happened in Scotland, there’s a reason Jamie and Claire are on a list of American historicals. You just have to read further into the books!
- William Short and Patsy Jefferson stealing a kiss in a Parisian carriage house in America’s First Daughter. Watching Patsy experience first love while the winds of revolution whip all around is a heady thing, which makes the impassioned kiss she and William Short, a forgotten American Founding Father you must learn more about, share in a stolen moment especially intense and satisfying. Totally swoonworthy history.
- John hugging Abigail against a winter’s frost in John Adams. HBO’s wonderful mini-series about John Adams not only helped Americans realize the debt we owe to him, but also helped us fall headlong in love with his wonderful wife. Abigail was a devoted, witty, proto-feminist who is portrayed brilliantly by Laura Linney. Abigail was never shy of advising her husband or criticizing his faults, and he cherished her for it. One might not immediately think of Paul Giamatti as a hunk of a hero, but when he’s infused with the gravitas of the second American president, he will make your heart grow two sizes.
- Gabriel and Anne’s wartime wedding in The Patriot. Having survived raids, their plantation burning, and the flight to a Gullah camp, Gabriel and Anne’s union is a sweet, hopeful celebration we all needed. And Heath Ledger smiling? A thing of bittersweet beauty, even after all these years.
- Rhett Butler confesses his love to a furious Scarlett with a sunset kiss in Gone with the Wind. Whatever else may be wrong with this movie, it’s not Clark Gable. Hauling a protesting Scarlett out of the wagon as she says she’ll never forgive him for leaving her, Rhett says, “There’s one thing I do know, and that’s that I love you, Scarlett. In spite of you and me and the whole silly world going to pieces around us, I love you.”
- When Noah helps Rosalee bathe in WGN’s Underground. One might not expect to find romance in a drama about a deadly plantation escape planned and executed by enslaved men and women, but in this savvy historical show that puts African Americans at the center of their own story, a beautiful romance unfolds between the blacksmith and a housemaid who must depend on each other to survive and make their way to freedom. Somehow they find moments of tenderness, and when Noah comes in with towels for Rosalee in the bath, he tries to be a gentleman, but she says not to go. And what follows will make your heart thump unless it’s a lump of coal.
- Hawkeye and Cora making love in Last of the Mohicans. In a sequence of beautiful scenes, Hawkeye admits to admiring Cora before they give in to the intense attraction between them that results in one of the best first-kiss scenes ever. And the fact that it happens at Fort William Henry just before the French attack makes it all the more intriguing to us history lovers.
- When Lt. Dunbar pulls Stands With a Fist behind a tree in Dances with Wolves. The beautiful Stands with a Fist isn’t supposed to kiss Lt. Dunbar; she’s in mourning. Which is exactly what she says to him, hip deep in a creek, as they meet in a passionate kiss. As their make-out session moves from the stream, to the bushes, she tells him that no one can know. That they have to be careful. But when they rise up out of that field of grass, we don’t want them to be careful. And neither does Lt. Dunbar because as she tries to sneak back into camp as if nothing has happened, he can’t let her go, and pulls her behind a tree for several more kisses. Swoon!
About ‘America’s First Daughter’
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph — a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.
From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France.
It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that 15-year-old Patsy learns about her father’s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love — with her father’s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William’s wife and still be a devoted daughter.
Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father’s reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.
About Stephanie Dray
Stephanie Dray is an award-winning, bestselling and two-time RITA award nominated author of historical women’s fiction. Her critically acclaimed series about Cleopatra’s daughter has been translated into eight different languages and won NJRW’s Golden Leaf. As Stephanie Draven, she is a national bestselling author of genre fiction and American-set historical women’s fiction. She is a frequent panelist and presenter at national writing conventions and lives near the nation’s capital. Before she became a novelist, she was a lawyer, a game designer, and a teacher. Now she uses the stories of women in history to inspire the young women of today.
About Laura Kamoie
Laura Kamoie has always been fascinated by the people, stories, and physical presence of the past, which led her to a lifetime of historical and archaeological study and training. She holds a doctoral degree in early American history from The College of William and Mary, published two non-fiction books on early America, and most recently held the position of Associate Professor of History at the U.S. Naval Academy before transitioning to a full-time career writing genre fiction as the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty books, Laura Kaye. Her debut historical novel, America’s First Daughter, co-authored with Stephanie Dray, allowed her the exciting opportunity to combine her love of history with her passion for storytelling. Laura lives among the colonial charm of Annapolis, Maryland with her husband and two daughters.