Unwise Passions: A True Story of a Remarkable Woman---And the First Great Scandal of Eighteenth-Century America

In 1792, 18-year-old Nancy Randolph of Virginia, a supremely eligible and sought-after beauty, gave birth to a baby rumored to have been fathered and subsequently killed by her sister Judith's husband, Richard Randolph. Although no body was found (supposedly, slaves had seen a dead white baby lying atop a trash heap) and Richard was acquitted, Judith and her husband's brother Jack never forgave Nancy. Indeed, they went out of their way to make her life miserable, aided by the fact that no southern gentleman would now have her. Nevertheless, like a true-life Scarlett O'Hara, Nancy willfully declared, ""I shall rally again,"" and she did. While her vengeful relatives fell into ruin (the heady days of the southern tobacco-dominated economy and the lavish lifestyle of the plantation owners were dwindling decidedly and irreversibly), she headed north, married the wealthy Gouoverneur Morris, who had hired her to run his household, and lived happily ever after. Crawford's (Thunder on the Right) account has the makings of a great story of intrigue, passion, greed, honor and lust set in the South, replete with an extraordinary supporting cast that includes Thomas Jefferson, a long-time family friend and relative; Francis Scott Key and Patrick Henry, who served as Richard's legal defense. But despite extensive research, Crawford, a former U.S. Senate speechwriter, fails to bring Nancy's character to full life and never seems to dish up the meat of his story, leaving it merely an interesting tale for those who like their history light and with a whiff of scandal. Maps and illus. (Nov.)