Loyalty to family is important.

Loyalty to family is important. In early America –especially in the South –family was often the only sure thing on which and individual could rely. In times of trouble, family would be there when no one else could be found. In America's First Daughter, family is everything to both Patsy and her father.

Readers first learn this when Patsy and the family must flee from the British. Love compels Jefferson to protect his family, while love compels the family to worry for Jefferson’s safety. The death of Martha compels Patsy to become the guardian of the family, protecting both the family name and watching out for Thomas Jefferson himself. Indeed, Patsy takes her promise to her dying mother so seriously that the family’s honor and fortunes will be the central focus of Patsy's life for decades to come. Aside from...