Becoming George Washington

This is an excellent work of historical fiction. I found this to be one of the best, if not the best depiction of Washington’s early life and career. Factfilled but written in an extremely interesting manner.

This is a fabulous historical novel filled with facts. It covers Washington's early life and his difficult relationship with his Mother and how important his brothers were in his life which frankly I knew little about. . It follows him through his relationship with Martha and french and Indian war. I thought this book was very well written and exciting to read. It is obvious the affection the author has for his subject and meticulous detail that went into writing this wonderful book

IN BECOMING GEORGE WASHINGTON author Stephen Yoch paints a picture of a brash, angry and ambitious young man who willfully and blatantly attempted to blame others for some of his early failures and could easily have became the “spin doctor” of his day. Learning from his early forays into political back-stabbing coupled with his hypersensitive and querulous demeanor Washington used the valuable lessons learned in his youth to mature from insecure fatherless boy to confident adult ready and willing to lead his fledgling country.

In Yoch’s well researched look at Washington, readers will find a somewhat superstitious young man whose belief that he would die young spawned a “got nothing to lose” attitude early on in his personal and professional life. Historians, in general, seem to agree on George’s pre-Martha infatuation with Sally Fairfax the wife of his best friend and Yoch, after careful research, has taken the plunge into the forbidden territory of the “did they or didn’t they” question. (After all, his is a book of historical fiction and after gathering the facts, the author’s imagination is allowed to take over).

All of the how’s and whys of George Washington’s relationships with family members, political adversaries and the women in his life as well as his military accomplishments and defeats are explored and Stephen Yoch has done more than just his homework. He has managed to delve into Washington’s psyche and put a very human face on the man who became the first President of the United States.

Everyone knows the story of George Washington the great man that led the Continental Army to victory and then went on to become the First President of the United States. But what do they really know of the years that came before (because he was in his later life by that point)? The answer for most, not too much! Author Stephen Yoch takes the reader back in time to the years that really formed young George Washington into the man he would later become.

As someone who LOVES to read and learn about the presidents, I jumped at the chance to read this novel treatment of the earlier days of the first president. I have read some non-fiction that covered his earlier years, but even in non-fiction there is not usually an extended focus on this time period, with the desire to focus on his generalship or presidency. In this novel, we only see Washington in his younger iteration, and see what led to the man that the majority of us know.

For a man who just wanted to return to being a farmer in his later years, that was anything but what the young Washington wanted to do. Like most, he wanted to spread his wings and take on the world – and create a couple little scandals along the way maybe? Yoch does an excellent job of bringing this seemingly mythical man back down to earth and rooting him in the somewhat average life he led. He didn’t just wake up one day and was magically the man the country needed. He struggled and overcame and made mistakes all along the way. He made the man REAL and I felt that I really got to know him here and get inside his head.

I feel very comfortable recommending this book to any fan of presidential studies or of the early period of the United States.

I really surprised myself in how much I enjoyed this book, it spurred a touch of jealousy in this Canadian as I would love to read about the men that shaped this great country.

I think we all know about George and Martha Washington, but Stephen Yoch has taken us back to his teen years, a time that isn't that well known.

There are many things that Becoming George Washington has going for it. First off was the writing style, it was engaging and it didn't take long to get lost in this book. This is the authors debut and I think he is off to a great start. It is evident that a vast amount of research went into this book, with well written descriptive details it wasn't hard to visualize the land in the 1700's, the life style as well as gruesome battle scenes giving this book the authentic feel of the time period.

The character of George Washington was based on actual documentation as were events that took place - though remember it is historical fiction. This book explores his life from a teen until he is 27. He isn't the rich man that I had originally thought but a fatherless farmer. It isn't all a bed of roses either, with a dominating mother his struggles to build a life for himself and serve his country isn't an easy road. I learned a lot about Mount Vernon, his family, as well as his relationship with both Sally and Martha and even that little snippet about the White House.

Not only did the author provide authors notes, but this time we got treated to extended authors notes, so for the person carving that little bit more, it is there. All in all a great debut that was entertaining, educational and has me hoping for a sequel.