Hamilton's Choice: the emotion and sense of duty behind that fateful day

Hamilton’s Choice by Jack Casey is a story about the final years of Alexander Hamilton’s life. The book opens with Philip as he hears and reacts to George Eacker’s Fourth of July speech, in which Eacker trashes his father’s legacy and character. This leads to the duel which will end his life. His beloved son dead, his daughter, Angelica, has a breakdown due to the grief, and Eliza avoids him when he needs her the most. Tormented by a secret that he can’t bear to reveal, Hamilton is alone to shoulder his grief. Meanwhile, Aaron Burr, Hamilton's long time political opponent, begins a campaign that threatens to rip apart the nation that Hamilton and the other finding father so carefully crafted. Hamilton does what he can to ensure that the power obsessed Burr does not win. When a mysterious note arrives, suggesting that Hamilton is behind his humiliating loss, Burr becomes determined to bring Hamilton to the same ruin. Torn between his duty and promise to his wife and children and his committed allegiance to the country he fought to build, Hamilton must make a life and death choice. In a time of honor, duel, and political games, we know how the story ends but how did it come to the duel that ends Hamilton’s life?  

As a fan of Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical, Hamilton, and Ron Chernow’s biography which inspired it, I was intrigued and hesitant when I came across Hamilton’s Choice. Ultimately, I decided to give it a chance and I am so glad that I did. Jack Casey brings the interior struggle and emotion of Hamilton to life more than the musical and biography does. Hamilton was torn between two loves, two desires and ultimately couldn’t find a way to satisfy both. I enjoyed seeing the egomaniacal Burr desperately try to take his place in the political power machine of his day and ultimately his place in history. He finds himself without friends and more enemies. Although, he never counted on being remembered as the “villain of our history.” The story also brings to life the pieces that moved in this careful game that Burr and Hamilton played as they moved closer and closer to that fateful day in July 1804. I also enjoyed seeing Eliza’s observations and her own internal struggle with her grief and Hamilton’s unwillingness to settle into a comfortable and quiet life. It is an excellent and moving story that brings Hamilton’s final years to life. Even though I have the eBook of this book, I want a paperback for my permanent library. I highly recommend Hamilton’s Choice. 

Hamilton’s Choice is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.