Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters

I read 64% of this book and just couldn't finish it when there are so many other books waiting for me. I wanted to like it and was looking forward to reading about Mary Todd Lincoln and her sisters. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this was so dryly detailed and factual it seemed to be more like a term paper than a novel. Thankfully there were no footnotes. The chapters were told from various sisters' points of view. Mary had something like five sisters and four step-sisters (so many it was hard to keep track). The chapters were not chronological, but switched back and forth from Mary's childhood, husband hunting and early married life, as first lady, and as a widow. The random order was confusing and illogical. The middle section show more of the novel, which is where I gave up, describes the beginnings of the Civil War in minute detail. I think the author forgot that her focus was Mary and her sisters, not U.S. history. The best parts of the novel were describing the lifestyle of the time (clothes, manners, social activities), including the slaves and how the various Todd sisters viewed slavery. I suppose this foreshadows the Civil War.

A major theme of the book is whether or not Mary is insane and should be committed, or later recommitted to an asylum. I found this topic to be so frustrating as everyone (her sisters, brothers-in-law, doctors, lawyers, and adult son as well as Mary herself) had a different opinion and based on the evidence presented I agreed with those who said she was a danger to herself and others. This discussion all takes place after Abe Lincoln is assassinated, but since the chapters are inserted randomly, the evidence and the arguments occur throughout the novel. Apparently this is all a buildup to Mary's attempted suicide which happens somewhere after I stopped reading (but is included in the publisher's summary so this isn't a spoiler). This event causes her sisters to gather together to support Mary. As she was a spoiled, self-centered child and young woman, wife and first lady, it was difficult as a reader as well as her sisters to find empathy for her. And maybe that's another reason I wasn't able to finish reading. Mary was an unlikable, unsympathetic person. I can't recommend this book.

Thanks to Goodreads and William Morrow Publishers for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own. show less

I enjoyed this novel about Mary Todd Lincoln and her sisters and I especially appreciated the focus on Mary's life after the White House, when she went through an illness referred to as madness but which seems more like severe depression. Mary's mental health struggles dominate the chapters set in the later years of her life, as her sisters grapple with how to best care for her, while the chapters set earlier in Mary's life detail the complicated family history of how the Todds ended up on different sides of the Civil War. I find the Todd family fascinating for this reason, and I appreciated this novel's fictional insights into their family life. I'd highly recommend this book for those interested in historical fiction set during the show more Civil War era. show less

In [Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters] Chiaverini novelizes Mary Todd Lincoln's life (1818 - 1882) with a focus on her relationship with her 3 sisters and 5 stepsisters. Lincolin brings a lot of fodder to a novelist. Strong minded, intelligent, educated, and able to discuss and argue political issues, she always had detractors. Three of her four children died from illness in childhood and her husband while president, was murdered at her side. When she showed obvious signs of mental unstability after her husband's death and her adult son had her committed, she became what historians often call the most maligned of the President's wives. I think Chiaverini does a good job with a character based on a real person whose life was so eventful and at the show more same time is able to make it very believeable.

I would give a rating of 4* if the book were organized differently. Each chapter is focused on a sister, for instance Chapter 1 is titled "May 1875" and below that "Elizabeth". That would be fine if the dates were chronological by chapter but they aren't! Chapter 23 is "May-June 1876" and "Ann." Chapter 24 is "April - May 1865" and "Elizabeth." At one point I had already read about the Presidents death and a chapter or two later he was running for Congress! This style just isn't for me! show less

I was asked to review this book for Library Thing. However, I never received it, I decided to purchase it since I really thought that Mrs. Lincoln’s Sisters would be a good read. I still thought it deserved my review.
In May 1875, Elizabeth Edwards is stunned that her younger sister Mary, former First Lady, and widow of President Abraham Lincoln, has attempted suicide. Mary’s shocking act followed legal proceedings arranged by her eldest and only surviving son that declared her legally insane. Although she and her sister have not been on the best of terms, Elizabeth knows that Mary has been under severe mental strain through the trauma and loss she has suffered. However, did her attempt at suicide be just an act to keep her out of show more the asylum. Elizabeth hopes that she can convince sisters to rally around Mary, put their feelings, past and present aside, to save Mary from being committed.
Elizabeth, always the peacemaker; Frances always envious of Ann; and much adored Emilie, are always at odds with one another in times of joy and heartache; first as children, and later as young wives and mothers. It seems to never end even when the Civil War erupted that divides the family. However, the sisters are now faced to choose loyalty to family over conviction.
I enjoyed the book. It was immensely entertaining. show less

I really enjoyed this in-depth look at the life of Mary Lincoln, the author did an awesome job of giving a glimpse into the personal life of the former First Lady.
Such heartbreak, no wonder some of the things that went on in her life happened. How to deal with such grief, enough to break almost anyone.
We meet and get to know a lot of Mary’s family, and of course, her sisters. Now her Dad had two wives and so there is quite a bit of family. We get to meet and know most of them, and how they come in time of need.
I cringed at her feelings for her son Robert, but keep reading. We also see the love, hate relationship of sisters, and then a war that puts siblings on separate sides.
I was quickly drawn into this story, and although fictional, show more it is rich with history! show less

I won this book from Library Thing's Early Reviewer program back in April 2020, but never received a copy from the publisher (William Morrow). It still appeared on my Not Reviewed list (I've been an Early Reviewer since November 2007), so I checked my libraries and borrowed the e-book from one of my libraries.

Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters is another of Jennifer Chiaverini's books about Mary Todd Lincoln and people associated with her (Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, Mrs. Lincoln's Rival). Mary Todd Lincoln had sixteen siblings in all (twelve of whom survived to adulthood), but this book focuses on her three full sisters (elders Elizabeth Todd Edwards and Frances Todd Wallace, and younger Ann Todd Smith) as well as one of her five younger show more half-sisters (Emilie Todd Helm).

The book starts in 1875, when Elizabeth learns that Mary's oldest and only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, has had her committed to a(n expensive) mental hospital. Mary convinces people visiting her to reach out to her sisters (from whom she's been estranged) to "rescue" her.

The book then alternates between the four sisters' viewpoints, as well as various times in the past and present, to depict Mary's childhood in Kentucky; her years with married sister Elizabeth in Springfield, Illinois, searching for a husband; her marriage to Lincoln and his rise to the presidency; and the years in the White House during the Civil War and the aftermath of his assassination.

The Civil War sharply divided Mary's Kentucky-based family. Elizabeth, Frances, Ann, and their husbands, long based in Springfield, supported the Union. Their three half-brothers fought for the Confederacy, as did Emilie's husband (he was a general killed in the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga). One full brother died in 1864 in Kentucky under mysterious circumstances; the other was a surgeon who served in a Confederate hospital in South Carolina. Her other four half-sisters were married to men who either fought for the Confederacy or sympathized with it.

Through her sisters, the reader learns how Mary - generally through her own actions - has become estranged. The sisters have different opinions about Mary's mental state, with Emilie perhaps the most sympathetic, having also lost her husband due to the war, and being a favorite of Lincoln - he called her "Little Sister." Elizabeth continues the motherly role she had as a child, being the oldest, taking Mary in when she manages to convince the hospital to release her. Frances and Ann wonder if Mary is acting out for the attention she's always craved.

Although Chiaverini provides some of her sources in her author's note, she doesn't clarify where she has deviated from fact to create her fiction, as so many other authors of historical fiction do. This book can stand alone from the other Mrs. Lincoln's books, but it would be helpful to read Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker before this book. There are references in Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters to said dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley, as well as more examples of Mary Todd Lincoln's erratic behavior during and after her White House years. show less

It was fun and sad to read about what Mary Todd Lincoln’s sisters may have actually been like. They were a large family and the oldest girls seemed to be very close. It was sad to see all the horrors that Mary and her whole family went through. It would be interesting to know if some of Mary’s problems might have been treatable now. This book made me laugh and cry a lot. I received a copy of this book from edelweiss for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.