Summary from GoodReads:

Mary Todd Lincoln is one of history’s most misunderstood and enigmatic women. The first president’s wife to be called First Lady, she was a political strategist, a supporter of emancipation, and a mother who survived the loss of three children and the assassination of her beloved husband. Yet she also ran her family into debt, held seances in the White House, and was committed to an insane asylum. In Janis Cooke Newman’s debut novel, Mary Todd Lincoln shares the story of her life in her own words. Writing from Bellevue Place asylum, she takes readers from her tempestuous childhood in a slaveholding Southern family through the years after her husband’s death. A dramatic tale filled with passion and depression, poverty and ridicule, infidelity and redemption, Mary allows us entry into the inner, intimate world of this brave and fascinating woman.

My Review:

I admit to knowing very little about the Lincolns.  I know what was taught in history, but very little of that centered around Mary Todd Lincoln.  Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln is her fictional story, told through Mary’s own eyes and centers prominently around her admittance into an insane asylum.

I have to say, out of all the historical fiction books I’ve read this year, this one was the most depressing.  I found myself torn between admiration for Mrs. Lincoln and horror at the very actions which caused her son to commit her. There was no good or bad side with regard to their relationship and what I was left with, when all was said and done, was a feeling of pity for the entire family.

The story flips back and forth between Mary’s time in the asylum and her memories beginning with her childhood and leading up to the time after President Lincoln’s assassination.  The portrayal of “Honest Abe” was interesting and showed him as just a simple man, full of honor and influenced by his wife’s strong will.  It’s no surprise to me at all that Mary may have been so involved in the politics of her husband, and despite it being something so frowned upon at the time, I found myself thinking of how different Mary Lincoln was from someone like Abigail Adams.

I think this book will make a great discussion at our book club meeting and recommend it to anyone looking for a good discussion book.  It’s a hefty one, however, so make sure you allow for plenty of time for reading and digesting it’s contents.  And, if you are anything like me, you might want some chocolate nearby as I found myself having to constantly “de-stress”.

Check out these review(s):

Historical Novel Review