One of the perks of working in publishing is that you might grab a book which would ordinarily not catch your attention. “The Mistress of Riversdale” definitely fits that bill. I bought the collection of letters from the early 19th century on a whim at a sale of remainders almost two years ago for next to nothing.

I finally picked it up a little while back when I had a lull in my stack. I figured I could easily cast it aside if I didn’t like it or found myself distracted by something else. That never happened.

The book features letters from Rosalie Stier Calvert, a wealthy Belgian woman who married in to one of Maryland’s most prominent families after emigrating to America in the late 18th century. Her family ultimately returns home while she stays with her new husband, affording her the opportunity to write many letters detailing life in early America.

I don’t think I had ever read a real-life account of this time period. I found a very interesting story which would probably surprise a lot of people, especially those who say that America has changed under the current administration.

I have news for you people – no, it hasn’t. With some cultural updating, you could easily mistake Calvert’s letters for current complaints. For the wife of one of the richest men in the country, she didn’t like much about America, even as they built an expansive country home.

But beneath the whining is biting social commentary, a fascinating look at a woman exerting her independence and a stark reminder of how much better we have it today than those who laid the foundation for this nation did. People might not like the health care legislation, but you don’t often hear of two children from a wealthy family dying within a week from a mysterious disease. That happened to the Calverts, who buried four of their nine children before Rosalie died in her mid40s.

The further we get from the early days of our country, the more we romanticize it. Sure, the Calverts had tons of money and hobnobbed with presidents and diplomats. They also had to manage thousands of acres of land, teach their own children and watched as a fractious republic found its legs. Oh, and they had plenty of slaves, a reality which makes the final chapter of the book a must read.

You can never learn too much about the past as long as you keep an open mind. Calvert’s letters open up some of the realities of early American life, even through the prism of the elite, and demonstrate that the problems we perceive don’t really represent anything new. The America we knew has been here all along.