You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe

We knew it was only a matter of time before I wrote a review on a book about my favorite president. You Never Forget Your First is a clever titled book (or at least I think so) about our first President, George Washington.

One of the interesting quirks of this book is when you begin perusing the pages, it initially reminded me of reading someone’s resume… and to read George’s was interesting. Surveyor, Gentleman Farmer, Land Developer, if it weren’t for the “Virginia Militia Colonel (British Army)” and the “Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses” or even the “Commander in Chief of the Continental Army”, he would seem like an average man living in Colonial times. But George isn’t your average man.

I felt the author, Alexis Coe, did her due diligence as there were interesting facts about George I was not aware of, for example he apparently “took 2-impoverished girls to court for stealing from his clothes while he swam” and “named a dog Cornwallis”. The latter one made me laugh.

The book also includes a recipe for hoecakes, which was a regular breakfast in the Washington household. I found this fascinating, I could actually eat like George and this had me really happy.

She didn’t give a squeaky-clean version of George either. Ms. Coe brought to light how he switched out enslaved people in order to keep them enslaved. He was far from a perfect man, and you are aware he knew better which makes it that much more disappointing.

Overall, I liked the book, the one recurring theme of how shocking it was that a woman was writing about George Washington got old for me. I understand that not many women write about the founding fathers, and I may not have minded that she made the statement once, but it seemed she brought this to light several times, and I just felt like it took away from the actual topic of the book… which was George, not how she was a female writer.

If you are looking for a different, slightly more refreshing take on Washington’s life, then I highly recommend “You Never Forget Your First” as you learn a lot about our first president in a non-conventional way.