'Alex & Eliza' by Melissa de la Cruz

Received from the Publisher 

From the BLURB:

1777. Albany, New York.

As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society's biggest events: the Schuylers' grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country's founding families, and even prouder still of their three daughters - Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks, and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival those of both her sisters, though she'd rather be aiding the colonists' cause than dressing up for some silly ball.

Still, Eliza can barely contain her excitement when she hears of the arrival of one Alexander Hamilton, a mysterious, rakish young colonel and General George Washington's right-hand man. Though Alex has arrived as the bearer of bad news for the Schuylers, he can't believe his luck - as an orphan, and a bastard one at that - to be in such esteemed company. And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history.

‘Alex & Eliza’ is the 2017 fictional YA retelling of the romance between America’s first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton and the daughter of a Revolutionary War general, Elizabeth Schuyler – by US author Melissa de la Cruz.

Full disclosure; this book was not exactly what I would call “good”, but I gobbled it up in a day anyway, such is my fascination and obsession with all things ‘Hamilton’ the musical – upon which coattails this book is riding.

There are quite a few signs that this book was somewhat rushed to print, so as to meet the Hamilton craze sweeping pop-culture. First and foremost is Melissa de la Cruz’s authors note, which says she first attended the musical in 2016, and immediately decided to write a fictional account of the (somewhat?) central romance between protagonist Hamilton and his wife, Eliza. HAMILTON the musical premiered on Broadway on January 20, 2015 and it was a pretty immediate ignition of popularity and not at all hard to read the writing on the wall, of the phenomenon this musical was sure to become (I remember a friend of mine attended Book Expo America in 2015, and was baffled that there was an impromptu choir of teens singing the songbook in the middle of the book hall?) But still – I am very dubious of de la Cruz saying she saw the play for the first time at some point in 2016, and the book is now out (released in America, April 2017). That’s a FAST turn-around for publishing, and it somewhat shows in the quality of the work …

Firstly I should say I’m not all that surprised that this book isn’t great (to mine eyes, at least). I’ve tried reading a few of de la Cruz’s books and they’ve just never, ever grabbed me. First with her early-2000’s paranormal YA romance series ‘Blue Bloods’ – when I was consuming a LOT of subpar paranormal romance at that time, it kinda speaks volumes that hers was where I drew the line and could not invest. I also LOVED the TV show ‘Witches of East End’ which was – again – paranormal romance kitsch, and based on de la Cruz’s ‘Beauchamp Family’ adult romance series which I tried to read because I so loved the TV show, but … nada. Again – it was just too clunky and slow for my liking, and although I love romantic kitsch that involves supernatural *anything* I could not get past her delivery. My last ditch effort with her was YA contemporary book ‘Something in Between’ – but again, I found her writing mediocre at best, and gave up after a few chapters. I generally just can’t with Melissa De La Cruz – but clearly it’s just me because she has a HUGE backlist and impressive following (and her track-record for adaptation is kinda outstanding). But still – I found everything I disliked about Melissa de la Cruz’s writing previously, to be present in ‘Alex & Eliza’ too. Mainly – I think she tends to butcher a great concept with laboured, mediocre delivery. Ouch … sorry. But it’s true. She’s kinda the literary equivalent of a bad film ruining a great trailer. The blurb hooks you, but the actual writing puts you off.

With ‘Alex & Eliza’ the fault I think lies in the fact that historical romance is not de la Cruz’s forte, at all. And it shows. The rhythm of the writing is … off. I don’t know how to describe it, other than laboured. It reminds me of high school students essay-writing, where they think they need to incorporate “wherefore art thou” and endless conjunctions of “therefore” and “consequently” to sound smart. Obviously I read historical romances all the time, and the language is genre-specific but I never notice it and it doesn’t break my reading rhythm – whereas in this book it stuck out like a sore thumb.

There were also countless instances where de la Cruz had clearly researched a point of the period and her research showed, with a clunk. This is just one seemingly small example of what I’m talking about … where de la Cruz clearly asked herself; “What did people in 1780’s America use as a hot water bottle when hot water bottles weren’t invented yet?” and when she found the answer was very chuffed with herself so made the point three goddamn times.

When Eliza’s feet were finally as pink as a newborn’s Aunt Gertrude rang the bell for a maid to take Eliza up to her room with a brazier to warm the sheets. The maid plucked several coals from the fire and laid them in the brazier, which sizzled all the way up the stairs. She ran the brazier under the bedclothes for a full five minutes until the sheets were fairly smoking, then helped Eliza off with her dress and into one of Aunt Gertrude’s nightgowns because Eliza’s trunks were still lashed to the top of the broken carriage seven miles away.

Historical research, I think, should sort of be like a lift in ballet. I don’t want to see someone straining and labouring over the effort – as I did here, and countless other times.

There are writers who know their way around a cotillion and revolutionary red-hot romance – but de la Cruz is not one of them. I can imagine someone like Sarah Maclean (whose YA historical romance ‘The Season’ is OUTSTANDING!) would have absolutely SLAYED with this concept. Likewise – I’m currently still feeding my ‘Hamilton’ obsession with a trio of inspired romance stories by historical romance writers in ‘Hamilton's Battalion’ and *that* is delivering outstanding goods and I think a Courtney Milan or Alyssa Cole could have likewise taken this Alex & Eliza YA romance concept and just … BLITZED it! I actually still hope that just because de la Cruz got in early, it doesn’t mean we won’t see more Hamilton-inspo YA offerings (I’m keeping abreast with this Goodreads list, though it does seem to be adult-dominated right now).

But okay – execution aside. Was the actual bones of this book good, the romance? Um. Well. No – not really.

If you know anything about Hamilton the musical you’ll know that Alex and Eliza don’t exactly have a fairytale romance in the context of that fictionalised biography … what with her sister Angelia also vying for Hamilton’s affections, and the second-half upset of The Reynolds Pamphlet. Even in the musical context that de la Cruz is more referencing, Alex & Eliza are a hard-sell as OTP and HEA – given everything.

But can we also talk for a moment about how the real Alexander Hamilton was kinda a total jerk? (I know, I know – it’s hard to separate the man from Lin Manuel Miranda, but gimme a second here). Hamilton was a good-looking guy with a low station in life and serious insecurities stemming from that. He was a kinda total dick – as a person. Great treasury secretary and writer, for sure! But he’d have been a nightmare husband.

The period that de la Cruz is writing about in ‘Alex & Eliza’ – their initial meetings and coupling – there’s plenty of historic evidence that highlights Hamilton’s douche-baggery. For one thing – it’s pretty obvious that he had designs on a Schuyler sister to elevate his station. There are letters between him and his good friend (/probably paramour) John Laurens where he basically plots his ladder-climbing via marriage. But put that aside – the way he even writes about Eliza is … atrocious. Here’s an excerpt from a letter he wrote to Laurens, advising of his engagement;

I give up my liberty to Miss Schuyler. She is a good hearted girl who I am sure will never play the termagant; though not a genius she has good sense enough to be agreeable, and though not a beauty, she has fine black eyes--is rather handsome and has every other requisite of the exterior to make a lover happy. 

Ummmm. Exsqueeze me?

Let’s also talk about how when he was courting Eliza and writing to her, his flattery left a lot to be desired;

A new mistress is supposed to be the best cure for an excessive attachment to an old— if I was convinced of the success of the scheme, I would be tempted to try it— for though it is the pride of my heart to love you it is the torment of it to love you so much, separated as we now are. But I am afraid, I should only go in quest of disquiet, that would make me return to you with redoubled tenderness. You gain by every comparison I make and the more I contrast you with others the more amiable you appear.

Can we just – for a moment – spit all over Hamilton’s highest endearment to Eliza being that she’s “amiable”? He even signs off this same letter with;

Adieu My Dear lovely amiable girl. Heaven preserve you and shower its choicest blessings upon you. 

Puke. A guy calls me amiable and I’m gonna amia-ball him in the nuts.

But there’s certainly something here that a writer can play around with – turning Hamilton and Eliza into an almost Beatrice and Benedict type pairing – having fun by portraying all the ways that Eliza does not intend to be amiable.

De le Cruz does this to an extent, but it falls entirely flat. Sitting somewhere between too beholden to the musical and history, and not enough of her own writing flair making them well-rounded and romantic.

Maybe the heat and flair will more come with second book ‘Love & War’ that appears to hint at all the ways Alexander Hamilton would have been an aforementioned *terrible* husband to put up with?

Also – don’t come into this book expecting a Hamilton/Angelica/Eliza love-triangle. In de la Cruz’s account, Angelica of this book wanes in comparison to the spunk and spirit of ‘Satisifed’-singing Angelica Schuyler of the musical … in this book, she’s seemingly enamoured of her rich catch John Barker Church. And yes, this is somewhat disappointing because that one uttered line “At least I keep his eyes in my life…” from Renée Elise Goldsberry on the musical soundtrack can sustain me for DAYS! Also if you want to get technical about it, John Laurens is actually the more natural (and real) candidate for a love-triangle between Alex and Eliza … and I would have been 1000% here for that, let me tell you!

Look, I have been very harsh in this review – only because my love for Hamilton looms so large and I did have high expectations for this, regardless of my track record with de la Cruz reads. I think there’s just a big part of me that wishes they’d gone for quality over being first off the rank with YA to meet Hamilton-fever. Speaking of – there’s not even many fun Easter-egg references to Lin Manuel Miranda’s lyrics in this book. I think there was use of the word “ruffian” which … congrats? Another instance I think where, if this book had been more thoughtfully planned and edited and laboured over then all of that pop-culture background could have been a lot more charmingly and cleverly done. But as it is – it’s another missed opportunity and clunker.

BUT – I did gobble this up, regardless of my many issues with it. And I can appreciate that de la Cruz has actually tried to write this in such a way as it will be accessible for the young audience of all ages who love Hamilton – so I’d actually say that reading age for ‘Alex & Eliza’ starts at about 12. Which is impressive for historical-fiction romance.

Overall I know that people who love Hamilton will be like me and persevere just because we’re insatiable. But I am holding out hope that there will be far superior stories on offer, and soon!

1.5/5

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'Hamilton: The Revolution' by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter

From the BLURB:

Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Eleven Tony Awards, including Best Musical 

Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical Hamilton is as revolutionary as its subject, the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States. Fusing hip-hop, pop, R&B, and the best traditions of theater, this once-in-a-generation show broadens the sound of Broadway, reveals the storytelling power of rap, and claims our country's origins for a diverse new generation. 

HAMILTON: THE REVOLUTION gives readers an unprecedented view of both revolutions, from the only two writers able to provide it. Miranda, along with Jeremy McCarter, a cultural critic and theater artist who was involved in the project from its earliest stages--"since before this was even a show," according to Miranda--traces its development from an improbable perfor­mance at the White House to its landmark opening night on Broadway six years later. In addition, Miranda has written more than 200 funny, revealing footnotes for his award-winning libretto, the full text of which is published here. 

Their account features photos by the renowned Frank Ockenfels and veteran Broadway photographer, Joan Marcus; exclusive looks at notebooks and emails; interviews with Questlove, Stephen Sond­heim, leading political commentators, and more than 50 people involved with the production; and multiple appearances by Presi­dent Obama himself. The book does more than tell the surprising story of how a Broadway musical became a national phenomenon: It demonstrates that America has always been renewed by the brash upstarts and brilliant outsiders, the men and women who don't throw away their shot.

I think the first I heard anything about a musical called HAMILTON was on the Book Riot blog last year – one of those typical ‘What to read now that you’ve seen/watched/read…’ recommendation posts. Except it was giving readers recs to quench their thirst for – what sounded like – an American history lesson set to rap music? I guess little subversive mentions of HAMILTON popped up in other cross-reverential ways within pop-culture, but the next I can remember going “Huh?” was when my friend who’d attended Books Expo America came back with all her tales, among them that this musical called HAMILTON was becoming such a thing that a sing-along was organised for teen fans at BEA (I think her commentary was “Check it out on Tumblr!”)

But that was all in 2015, and apart from a quick Wikipedia-read to get brushed up, I put HAMILTON out of my mind … until it came back again in June this year. That was when the Orlando nightclub shooting happened – now known as the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history – and when some guy called Lin-Manuel Miranda won a Tony award for his scoring on the musical HAMILTON, and read a poem he quickly wrote as part of his acceptance speech;

Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love, cannot be killed or swept aside. Now fill the world with music, love, and pride.

Wow.

Who is this guy?

A little more research and HAMILTON sounded intriguing, but I distinctly remember walking into the Hill of Content bookshop earlier this same year, picking up a copy of the tome Hamilton: The Revolution and scoffing at the prize/size/entire concept of the show as somewhat baffling. “I’ve listened to the soundtrack,” a helpful bookstore clerk piped up, “and it’s actually really great. I’m obsessed.” I may have raised my eyebrow. I’m not a *huge* fan of musicals (more than once during one I’ve thought/said “why do they have to sing everything?!”) and given that I’ve not been much moved by the soundtracks to the few musicals I have actually seen and enjoyed, I highly doubted I’d get much out of listening to the cast recording of a show I’ve never seen about America’s first Secretary of the Treasury.

But Lin-Manuel Mirand intrigued me (his poetry, and Twitter account alike) and the global growing obsession with HAMILTON moved me enough to at least purchase the soundtrack on iTunes … and I was done.

Officially obsessed.

Pre-ordered the Mixtape. Obsessed.

Left some not-so-subtle (emailed) hints to the folks that I’d quite like that Hamilton tome at Christmas. Obsessed.

Lucky for me I have kind parents who bought me the book by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Jeremy McCarter for Christmas (but not without a side-note of sarcasm; “Oh, did the Broadway tickets we put in there fall out? What a shame.”)

And I’ve got to say – if the hype around Miranda and this musical he’s created didn’t feel really real (even before I finally listened to the soundtrack) reading Hamilton: The Revolution cements it for me.

This is at once a thick volume tracking the creation of the musical – from Miranda’s holiday reading of Ron Chernow’s Hamilton autobiography – to the two years it took Lin-Manuel to write the first two songs. And while I’m not a fanatic of many musicals, I was made a fan of a show about the making of musicals – the somewhat doomed 2012 television show Smash about the pitfalls of bringing a musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe from concept to stage. Hamilton: The Revolution explores the daily grind of making big ideas come to life – right down on chapters dedicated to the staging and lighting of tricky technical storytelling moments. And it’s all – believe it or not – fascinating.

It’s also good value to actually have the lyrics to all the songs laid out (if only to have mondegreens corrected – I thought the line in the opening number went “ruined brides” not “ruined pride” and been thinking that Hamilton’s cousin had made a profession as a charlatan matchmaker or something?!). But it’s really spectacular for the notes in the margins from Lin-Manuel. Everything from Miranda dropping a reference to Jordan Catalano as inspiration for a lyric in Angelica Schuyler’s rapid-fire number Satisfied, to discovering that the inspiration for Dear Theodosia wasn’t so much the arrival of Miranda’s son … but of a stray dog he and his wife adopted while on vacation in the Dominican Republic.

What I got out of reading Hamilton: The Revolution (from cover-to-cover, like the obsessive I have now become) was actually similar to what I enjoyed about reading Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert, bizarrely enough. They both track the creative process from a kernel of an idea to working at it, growing and finishing it; and Gilbert and Miranda also seem to embrace the electrifying power of coincidence and fate lining everything up for a special project… and they pay serious ode to the fact that one doesn’t have to be actively creating to always be working and thinking;

He sequestered himself in a quiet corner of the Public [theatre], composing music, scribbling verses, occasionally wandering the halls. The staff got used to seeing him pacing in his slippers. One day he realized that his inability to grasp the enormity of Alexander and Eliza’s loss wasn’t a barrier to writing the song, it was the song.
“Once I got the line, ‘There are moments that the words don’t reach,’ I had the song,” he says. He wrote it in a day.

 

I also quite liked that in Hamilton: The Revolution a few bruises are poked at in chapters focused on the actors in the originating roles. Like how all of the principal actors playing Founding Fathers had to reconcile with themselves as black men, playing influential historical figures that owned slaves. Christopher Jackson who plays George Washington had particularly powerful insights into this, and it’s satisfying to know that there are little tells (as subtle as a bowed head at the right time) that acknowledge this dichotomy throughout the play.

I will say that I came away from my reading of Hamilton: The Revolution … and immediately checked the price of tickets (in both New York and Chicago) and seriously, seriously considered just splurging (especially because it’s a big birthday for me next year). And I honestly think that while HAMILTON will enjoy a long-run (a Phantom of the Opera-long run) in America, I don’t know how it would go elsewhere.

This question momentarily pops up in Hamilton: The Revolution – in a chapter titled ‘An Account of Rapping for the Children Who Will One Day Rap For Themselves’ – in which the musical’s alliance with the Theatre Development Fund in schools is discussed, and Miranda muses on its next stage of life when HAMILTON is licensed for student and amateur productions … they beg the question of how well HAMILTON will go in Asia, Europe and Australia. Is there really worldwide appeal for a musical that is so steeped in American history and has little relevance (particularly for school study) to outside countries?

Putting aside my desperate wish to go and see this musical (without having to take out a bank loan to do so) I really don’t know. It’s certainly taken me a while to warm to the idea of even listening to the soundtrack. BUT … to be fair – there’s not a lot of history-based musicals that have especial relevance to Australia anyway, baby country that we are. And to give you further context to that; in 1770 Captain Cook made the first European landing on Australia's east coast, and a mere six year later The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. Just to give you some idea of how much America and Australia’s paths veered at this time … Australians don’t learn about the American Revolutionary War in our core history studies in high school, often because our studies are focused on what was happening in our own country at that time. So certainly – the historic context is a hard barrier to get through for non-Americans, I’d say.

BUT, but, but … and maybe I’m grasping at straws here … but if HAMILTON the Musical was to time an Australia tour just right – were there to be renewed public debate around a Republic referendum? Could you imagine the publicity campaign? If nothing else, I certainly think the Australian Republican Movement should be quietly reaching out to any channels they can to see if a HAMILTON tour announcement would like to join with them in some tongue-in-cheek capacity!

And also; the world is turning again to America to see what happens with their political sideshow, much as they did in 1775... The atmosphere is bizarrely – inversely? – ripe to re-examine the “American Experiment” with Donald Trump and all his “draining the swamp” talk becoming the 55^thPresident of the United States of America. Right down to what Lin-Manuel summarises as the true message of HAMILTON and the revolution is essentially about;

When Lin told the audience at the White House that Alexander Hamilton “embodies the word’s ability to make a difference,” he was thinking of all the good things that language can do. 

Hamilton reminds us that the American Revolution was a writers’ revolution, that the founders created the nation one paragraph at a time. But words can also wreak havoc. They also tear down.

… now think about that in the context of Donald Trump’s inane/insane Twitter account. Certainly, History Has It’s Eyes On You has already taken on a new, even more sombre meaning as January 20 looms - and already, the HAMILTON musical cast have contributed their voice to this new phase in American history, becoming part of the narrative in a way I’m sure they could have never foreseen (but won’t shy away from more crucial opportunities in future).

Listening to HAMILTON has been a revolution in itself for me, but reading Hamilton: The Revolution has made me keep thinking and connecting aspects of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s masterpiece to the real world and what the future holds.

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5/5

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