WHY ELIZA HAMILTON?

When Disney released "Hamilton: the Musical," I watched the first day--and then I watched it again and again. As a writer, I was in awe (still am) of the way Lynn Manuel Miranda spun that story. But as a woman, the character that grabbed me was Eliza. I wanted to know more about her. Whether it's true or not that she destroyed any papers containing her story, there certainly is not a lot of material about her. At this point I can say, I've read most of it.

Some writers of historical women are accused of giving their female characters a modern outlook. Eliza Hamilton, however, gave me the gift of being just that. From everything I’ve

read about her, she was definitely a woman grounded in her time, but also a woman who was exposed to much more than most women. She soaked it all in, from the time she was a child to her death. It invariably affected her. When I read about her visiting people days after her husband’s death, campaigning against Aaron Burr, her character took root for me. So while she’s gifted me with a modern sense of being slightly rebellious, her reasoning all goes back to the love of her husband and her family. She does not rebel for her own sake.

I know it’s risky for a writer to take on such a beloved American character and take her in directions that are not quite historically accurate. But once the story took root in my mind, I had to write it.

It’s been an honor to get to know her. History gives us hindsight, as we know that Eliza Hamilton did go on to make a difference, most especially in helping to start the Graham Windham Orphanage, which still functions today.

I think many modern women can relate to Eliza Hamilton in so many ways. I can’t tell you how many fellow Hamiltonthe musical fans have said they wanted more of Eliza’s story. I hope I have done her justice, though I know there’s so much more to her.