What I wanted to do is find the facts and then incorporate them into scenes of the books. Melissa, “I am fascinated with the time period including the architecture, dress, and what they ate. Another factual scene has a description of Eliza’s dress, with “skirt, underskirt, petticoat, slip, and ankle-length, form-fitting pantaloons.” Fiction, Eliza did not have a hand in it, while, the truth is that the soldiers were inoculated. For example, a scene in the book has Eliza helping to inoculate Washington’s troops with a smallpox vaccine. Readers will get a glimpse of the time period: how they dress, eat, and live are described in great detail. I thought about how someone like him could marry someone like her.” Then there was Alexander Hamilton, a handsome, brilliant, brave, and charming war hero who had no name and no money.

“Elizabeth (Eliza) was the princess coming from one of the most prestigious and richest New York families. She wanted to write it as a perfect American fairy tale. A book quote shows how powerless women were during those times, “It is a cliff, a drop into some unfathomably deep and foggy abyss… a shipwreck.” Yet, in the end, love wins out, and her parents accept Hamilton as a suitable husband. She wants to marry for love, not prestige and wealth, but will not go against her parent’s wishes.

His prestige comes from being the aide-de-camp to General George Washington.Įliza is seen as a strong-willed, sharp-tongued, sarcastic, and intelligent woman. The bright, ambitious, but penniless Hamilton is drawn to practical Eliza, falling deeply in love. But it is also a Prince and the Pauper story since Hamilton was an orphan who did not have a name or financial means. Hamilton is seen as a smitten dashing knight who sweeps the princess, Eliza, off her feet. Because there is not much information about Eliza, the author had to take liberties to construct a story that was somewhat accurate, weaving together fact and fiction. In the first book, ALEX & ELIZA, the plot spans the years from when they first met in 1777 to their marriage in 1780. I think that Alexander Hamilton never went by the name ‘Alex.’ There is no way Eliza would call him ‘Alex’, and more likely called him Mr. They may be historical figures, but they are also characters of my imagination. I consider him someone I made up from the real person. Melissa wants to emphasize, “Alex is a creation based on an historical figure. The first in the series, ALEX & ELIZA, and its sequel, LOVE & WAR emphasize the romance more than the historical, as the author brings to life the love story of these two Revolutionary figures. Whether the play by Lin-Manuel Miranda or the novels by Melissa De La Cruz, people are craving for more information about the Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza Schuyler. ALEX & ELIZA has taken the world by storm.

Love and war by melissa de la cruz