The Emancipator's Wife

Barbara Hambly won me over years ago with her Star Trek novel Ishmael, and since with her marvelous historical mystery series about Benjamin January, a free man of color in 1830s New Orleans. And the story of Mary Todd Lincoln would be interesting enough in the hands of a bad writer, which Hambly is not. So how could this book fail? Good news... it didn't. It centers around Mary Todd Lincoln's commitment as insane in 1875, and builds up the story of her life around that. What a story! Born a Southern belle in a slave-owning family, Mary long had an interest in politics that was not encouraged. Her mother died when she was young, and she did not get along well with her stepmother. She fell in love with Abraham Lincoln while staying with show more her sister in Springfield, Illinois, but it was a couple of years before they married. She had both physical and mental problems from youth, including migraine headaches, and was possibly bipolar. They made her life difficult, reinforced by the tragic circumstances of her life... the loss of three of her four sons, her husband's assassination while by her side. plus the horrors of the Civil War. She was even in Chicago during the Great Fire.

Hambly tells the story well, and does her best to stick to the record, but uses her imagination to fill in where the record doesn't exist. Fascinating story told by an excellent writer. show less

Overall the book was interesting, but I do feel that it was longer than necessary. It seemed like everything in Mary Lincoln's world was punctuated by a tantrum or a migraine headache. The loss of three children and her husband to an assassin would break anyone and I sympathize with her on those counts, but I found her volatile behavior very off-putting. Lincoln must have been incredibly tolerant! Today's tabloid media and paparazzi would have a heyday following her on shopping sprees and capturing her histrionics!

I went to see Lincoln last month and remembered I had this book, so I read it. While it is fiction, I am assuming the author portrayed Mary as accurately as she could. According to the author, Mary was probably addicted to patent medicines which were made mostly of opiates. No wonder she was crazy!

The book starts when Mary was deemed insane and checked into a "rest home" by her son, then flashes back to times with Lincoln and also her childhood. Mary came off as a likeable but very flawed person. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the conversation the Lincolns had in the carriage before they went to Ford's Theater was the same one from the movie; where they would like to travel. This must have been documented somewhere.

I enjoyed show more the book, although it was long-and it did take me a long time to read it. I learned quite a bit about how women lived in the mid 1800s, and I have a better understanding of Mary Lincoln's history. She and her husband probably came to the White House at one of the toughest times in history. I think she did the best she could have done, and maybe as well as anyone else could have under those circumstances.

**SPOILER ALERT** ;-)
I cannot imagine surviving the heartache of loosing three children and a husband like she did. show less

Whew! I almost feel emancipated myself having finished this l o n g tale. Although I do feel that I got an accurate picture of Mary Todd Lincoln and her idiosyncracies, it took a lot! I doubt I would recommend this. It was a Kindle special..... I am beginning to feel very dubious about those specials, especially after this one.

Not my period, so I can't comment on the scholarship; but a plausible, interesting and enjoyably written take on Mrs. Lincoln from a favorite writer.

A fictional story of Mary Todd Lincoln, Wife of the President Abe Lincoln the book presumes her thoughts as she goes through her often troubled life. It is possible that she was bi-polar. She lost her three younger sons and her husband to death, was possibly addicted to opium (not unusual at that time) from her medication for headaches, depression and female itching. It is an interesting read, though over-long.

bloody slow and dreadful...