Episode #19
Laura Kamoie on Abigail Adams, “Remember the Ladies,” and A Founding Mother
In this episode of History Through Fiction: The Podcast , host Colin Mustful speaks with historian and historical novelist Laura Kamoie, co-author of A Founding Mother , about Abigail Adams—the sharp-minded, outspoken woman whose letters reveal the human stakes behind the American Revolution and the creation of a new nation. Together, they explore what Abigail’s life can teach us about voice, independence, and the ongoing work of building a more perfect union. The conversation begins with a scene from 1814, as Abigail hears that Washington has burned and wonders whether the American experiment is collapsing. From there, Laura discusses Abigail’s surprisingly modern voice, her tart humor and intellectual confidence, and the full force of her appeal to “remember the ladies.” The episode looks beyond the familiar quotation to Abigail’s larger arguments about women’s education, political representation, and financial independence—including the entrepreneurial work and careful planning that allowed her to leave money to the women in her life. Laura also reflects on the craft of historical fiction: how close readings of letters and primary sources become dialogue and interior voice, how historical novels can function as a form of public history, and how she and Stephanie Dray collaborate to create a single, unified character on the page. She shares how her work as a historian and teacher informs her fiction, and why Abigail’s insistence that each generation must do its part remains resonant as the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Laura Kamoie brings together a historian’s care with sources, a novelist’s feel for character, and a deep commitment to telling the stories of people who shaped the past from within the pressures of everyday life. Her connection to Abigail Adams is especially compelling because A Founding Mother joins archival research, narrative craft, and the urgent question of how a nation’s ideals are lived—and revised—over time. At History Through Fiction, the past becomes vivid through story, conversation, and the craft of bringing overlooked lives into focus. Explore the catalog of historical novels, workshops, events, and the wider community at https://www.historythroughfiction.com .
