Mary Ball Washington audiobook

Not surprisingly, since little is known about George Washington's mother, this book is mostly about George and their relatives. It's still interesting, and I'd recommend it. The book is difficult to read, partly because of the small, odd typeface chosen by the publisher and partly because of the author's preference for strange, overcomplicated sentences.

I’m a huge George Washington fan so this was the perfect book for me to read. The author really brought his mother to life as much as can be done with limited information and records that exist on her. He told everything that is known about Mary Ball Washington and quite effectively reviewed her other biographies which range in sentiment from “she was a controlling, Tory mother” to “she was a saint and an angel.” Shirley seemed to find a realistic middle ground. I learned a lot about her personal life and her ancestors and the early Washington family. Mary Ball actually had a sad life in many ways, she was fatherless at around age 3 and orphaned at 12. She wasn’t poor though, she inherited a fair amount every time a parent or guardian died. She was taken care of by her half-siblings and grew close to them and viewed her brother-in-law as a bit of a father figure. Then sadly, he too died in her teen years. She married a widower who had lots of land and they started their own family and then he died after 15 years of marriage and on top of that she lost 3 children before she died in her 80’s. She never remarried and raised her kids on her own. She took great interest in her oldest son George’s life and her motherly fears of him becoming a sailor in his late teens probably played an important role in his being in the army instead and later leading Patriot forces to victory in the Revolutionary War. This book doesn’t go into too much detail on how she might have shaped him in other ways, since much of that would be speculation. It shared what is known about her: she had a limited education and had poor spelling her whole life, she was close to her much older half-brother Joseph Ball who lived in England and they wrote each other regularly, she preferred life in the country but was moved to the city of Fredericksburg by George as she got older. She constantly asked George for money something he always noted in his journal. Despite her prominent position as the mother of General George Washington (who was revered even then) she dressed in nice but plain clothes. She was religious most of her life and stayed loyal to the Church of England even after the war. Mary often irritated George, was close to her daughter Betsy and eventually she died a long drawn-out and painful death from breast cancer just shortly after George was elected President of the United States. Being a mother myself, I’m quick to give her and all mothers the benefit of a doubt when it comes the criticisms of her as a mother, for there are some who say she wasn’t a good mother. I’m sure when she was raising her kids all on her own on a large country estate that she was also managing on her own at the same time, she probably never dreamed that people would look into her life and mothering skills for centuries to come and critique and question them.

An interesting look at an influential woman who, despite being George Washington's mother, seems to be little known. It didn't help her popularity that she was a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War, and somewhat of a financial drain on George. (After being widowed, she refused either to remarry or move in with one of her children, so was constantly needing money.) I was intrigued by the author's description of the Constitutional Convention (imagine a group of men actually creating a new country's governmental structure!) and by some of George's choices. Also, what was it specifically that made George the unanimous choice for responsible positions--including the new presidency? And I hadn't known that he, although the eldest of six siblings, outlived them all.This was a worthwhile read that worked well for a discussion among history buffs.

Since there is not a lot known or documented about Mary Ball Washington, Craig Shirley researched and compiled information creating this book. If you want to read it to learn exact details about Mary Ball Washington, that is not this book as the information does not exist. Read this book as a background of the start of the United States and her influences on her son, future General and future President. Life must have been challenging for anyone during that part of history. Interesting background and will have to visit Virginia to visit Mrs. Washington's monument.

Being a Virginian and native of the Middle Peninsula this book was most interesting with local facts. Some known and some not. Craig Shirley did an outstanding job presenting facts and scenarios in order to better understand the mother of George Washington. Which allowed you to walk vividly through that time as his book unfolded. Given Martha’s life circumstances it is obvious they shaped her to be a strong individual. Giving her son maybe not tender loving traits, but confidence, independence and responsibility and need of faith. Which we as Americans can thank both of them for!

Very interesting. Glad I read it.

The author shows us a picture out of focus; and while reading the book, we remain with this clouded vision, inspired none the less.

Great!This was such a great book. Very informative with a lot of speculation, but informed speculation backed up by historical facts.

The mother of the fatherOf our country couldn't botherTo take pride in her great sonAnd in the things that he had done.