---
product_id: 46881074
title: "Portia: The World of Abigail Adams"
brand: "edith b. gelles"
price: "€ 44.38"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 4
url: https://www.desertcart.fr/products/46881074-portia-the-world-of-abigail-adams
store_origin: FR
region: France
---

# Portia: The World of Abigail Adams

**Brand:** edith b. gelles
**Price:** € 44.38
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Portia: The World of Abigail Adams by edith b. gelles
- **How much does it cost?** € 44.38 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.fr](https://www.desertcart.fr/products/46881074-portia-the-world-of-abigail-adams)

## Best For

- edith b. gelles enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted edith b. gelles brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Portia: The World of Abigail Adams

## Images

![Portia: The World of Abigail Adams - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51j5cfKYGXL.jpg)
![Portia: The World of Abigail Adams - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vgyE3hl6L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Abigail Herself, seen through relationships
  

*by A***E on Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022*

While many other authors have tried to use Abigail Adams to serve their own intellectual or political purposes, Edith Gelles wants to recover Adams as herself. Gelles shows us the ways that Abigail embraced the social roles of her time and place while using her epistolary vocation to express herself in ways that pushed some of those boundaries. Like other women of her time, she defined herself in terms of domesticity, though John’s absences forced her to develop management and business skills to provide for the household. She knew that women were not supposed to discuss politics, but given her family’s political careers her letters often include political discussions with the socially-appropriate apologies for talking about such things. Business and politics forced her to think and act outside the purely private sphere where women were supposed to remain, and so the public world of men intrudes on the domestic life she had expected to leave.Gelles makes the decision to avoid chronology in favor of exploring a different theme in each chapter, such as “gossip,” or her role as sister or mother, or her intriguing relationships with James Lovell and Thomas Jefferson. That decision works well, and it allows Gelles to draw on different disciplines to develop these themes. At the same time, the decision weakens the thematic unity of the book itself, and it often obscures the temporal relationships among events–especially in the last chapter, where Abigail faces the deaths of many friends and family within a short period, a chapter that highlights stresses not evident in early chapters mentioning the same people.As she must, Gelles relies on Abigail Adams’ own letters in telling the story. People write letters as part of a relationship, so this portrait inevitably sees Adams in terms of her relationships. Because Americans have always seen her in terms of her relationships with the many powerful men in her family, highlighting her relationships with her sisters and daughter helps round out the story. That said, it remains difficult to see Abigail Adams as herself, outside any relationship at all.All in all, the book succeeds admirably in its purposes. Gelles’ scholarly perspective, references to academic terms and literatures, and Adams’ eighteenth-century language all mean that it isn’t intended for the “general reader,” which keeps it from earning five stars from me. People who read the academic histories that appear in book clubs, however, will probably find it worthy of that last star.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A fresh look at Abigail
  

*by C***L on Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2000*

Gelles presents for us Abigail Adams in a new light...the domestic woman.  By telling her story thematically (one chapter devoted to her and her sisters, one devoted to her daughter and Abigail jrs fight with breast cancer) we meet a new Abigail...one who is not weighed down by  proto-feminist thought, nor is she trying to dominate the home.  Abigail  was an unusual woman in a few ways, but keep in mind that she kept a family  togehter by herself for the many years when John Adams was in Philadephia  or England or France.  She acted within social norms as a "deputy  husband" (to use the language of the times).  Although at times I  question if Gelles isn't slightly underestimating the second first lady of  the US...she presents a new counterpoint to the large body of Abigail Adams  scholarship out there.  For those scholars of Abigail Adams, her first  chapter basically presents in a historiographical manner the various types  of Abigail scholarship out there, offering a critique of many of the  well-known authors.  It is a bit dry at times, but is not at all painful to  read.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    used
  

*by C***Y on Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2018*

it was used and it very good quality. true to label

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.fr/products/46881074-portia-the-world-of-abigail-adams](https://www.desertcart.fr/products/46881074-portia-the-world-of-abigail-adams)

---

*Product available on Desertcart France*
*Store origin: FR*
*Last updated: 2026-01-26*