Publisher's Synopsis
Countless readers have been regaled by the many stories told of Andrew Jackson. That has been evidenced by the numerous books written about Jackson and their popularity. Errol Wayne Anderson has been enamored with Jackson as well, but more so about his choice of a wife. Yes, Rachel and her family background are every bit as interesting as Jackson. After reading this book you will think so as well. The term - it's a man's world - was certainly true back in the late 1700s and the early 1800s. If a woman found herself in an unhappy marriage it was her lot in life to make the best of it even if she was being mistreated physically. The chance of a woman getting a divorce was nearly impossible. In fact it was hard for a man to get a divorce, too. It took an act of a State Congress to get a divorce for a man or a woman, but officials just wouldn't pay a woman the necessary attention in most cases to get the job done. The idea of a divorce came into play when Rachel's marriage to her first husband, Lewis Robards, began showing signes of having trouble. Lewis finally sent her home to her mother and family after three years of marriage without divoricing her. Robards tried to rekindle the marriage some time later, but he had hurt and embarrassed Rachel so much by sending her home to her family plus the fact that by that time she had met a 22 year old lawyer named Andrew Jackson; however, this is getting ahead of the story, because this story starts when Rachel is twelve years old and traveling with her mother, father and ten brothers and sisters as they are making a one thousand mile intercontinental river trip, fighting Indians, weather, rough water and extreme hungar along the way. Seeing into Rachel's family and background before she meets Jackson is a wonderful insight into her personality. She grew up in a grand family with much love and care. And you will learn to love and respect her family, too. This book is written in three parts. Part One: The "Adventure," Part Two: Carving Out A Home, and Part Three: The Years Of Rachel And Andrew Jackson. Part one deals with that unbelievable one thousand mile intercontinental river trip and introduces many people who will continue through the book. Part two tells of how they carved out a home in the western United States which hadn't progressed beyond the Mississippi River yet. That was an area that, in time, would include the city we now call Nashville, Tennessee. Part three is, as the title suggests, the Lives of Andrew and Rachel Jackson.
