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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine historical novel,
By
This review is from: The Emancipator's Wife: A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln (Hardcover)
Preface: I am a librarian at a local public library. I am also a long-time FAN of Barbara Hambly's novels, both historical mysteries and her numerous fantasy works.
This book is insightful and thought-provoking. Hambly uses her fine ability to write sympathetic, yet very human characters to provide a credible portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln. Is this book the final word on Mrs. Lincoln? No. Do I have a greater awareness of the complexity of life in the American 19th century, especially from a woman's perspective? Yes! Barbara Hambly is a historian by training and her ability to weave the details of a time and place make her historical (and fantasy!) books a pleasure to read. At times you can feel the oppressive humidity or find yourself wrapped in the sights and sounds of a parlor scene or find your heart beating in anticipation or fear along with Mrs. Lincoln. Fans of Tracy Chevalier's novels may enjoy this title, as well as readers of Ahab's Wife by Sena Jester Naslund. If you find that you like Hambly's narrative style and American historical fiction, you might try her Benjamin January series that is set in New Orleans during the 1830s-40's. The first book in the series is A Free Man of Color. A final note: If you are looking for a biographical work that focuses on life of Abraham Lincoln or a Civil War novel with lots of action scenes, this book is not for you. Nevertheless, I would encourage Civil War fiction readers to consider this book for the cultural context it provides to this pivotal period of American history.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Research, details provide context for Mary Todd Lincoln's story,
By Kristen "historical fiction junkie" (Central Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Emancipator's Wife (Paperback)
Barbara Hambly's "The Emancipator's Wife" is a remarkably well researched fictional narrative of the life of Mary Todd Lincoln. That she lived with mental illness is not disputed - ample evidence exists to suggest that she was bi-polar. However, history has damned her for displaying anxiety and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, for shopping and relying excessively on "elixers" of the day (which were loaded with opiates and alcohol) to distract, soothe and medicate herself (both practices still commonly used by people to deal with PTSD symptoms and symtoms of other mental illnesses), and for daring to challange the narrow and confining societal role expected of her. I applaud Ms. Hambly for doing such a superb job of keeping these important contextual factors in the forefront of Mary Todd Lincoln's story.
Mary Todd Lincoln lived a fascinating life. She was well educated, connected to national political leaders through her own family and her family's friendships, and was allowed to partake in political maneuverings in ways that most women of her time were not. She lived through momentus historical times in the shaping of governments in several states and of the nation. She also was an average woman with an average life full of losses due to violence, disease and the dangers of childbirth which were so common during this point in history. She was neglected as a child and had to manipulate and fight with numerous siblings and her step mother for attention. She was socially confined and limited by men and by the many women who subscribed to the male ideas of what female life should be. She competed with other "belles" of her Southern upper class for the attention of powerful men and for the glimmers of power that women connected to them were afforded. She found herself in an unfulfilling marriage and struggled against that reality, wanting desperately to be loved unconditionally, be a priority above her husband's career, and above else be happy. These things do not happen when you are married to an emotionally distant man who suffers from severe and chronic depression. But if Hambly's story is at all representative of Mary's relationship with Abraham Lincoln, it seems that his own struggles with mental illness and childhood tragedy allowed him to love her despite her flaws and to offer sympathy and safety to her when others would not. Their love story in this book is full of small sweet moments. It is easy to understand why Mary so desperately wanted more of him than she got. The weakness in this book is that Hambly provides details about Mary's day to day life in minutiea at times - slowing the story and droning on uninteresting aspects. But perhaps this is done for effect - it is certainly an illustration of how boring the life of a "belle" who had an education and aspirations of her own could have been. For the most part, however, this is a unique story about a woman who has been greatly misrepresented. Hambly gives perspective and thus life to a woman usually seen as flatly overbearing, unreasonable and annoying. The backdrop of the socio-political and personal realities of Mary's time bring dimension to her life story, and make for a rather interesting and good book of historical fiction.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Novel!,
This review is from: The Emancipator's Wife: A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln (Hardcover)
The Emancipator's Wife by Barbara Hambly is a great novel...emphasis on the word NOVEL. I have noticed before reading the book that others have given it a less than superior rating on basis that not all of the facts on Mary lincoln's life were true and that is right. this book is not in any way a biography of Mary Lincoln's life. There are other numerious books out there that do that. The Emancipator's wife is, instead, a work of historical fiction based on the life of one amazing woman. I could not put this book down and finished it in probably three days. The use of detail that Ms. Hambly uses in her writing is superb; the reader really feels like they are living through all of the horrific experiences that Mary Lincoln had to face. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves historical fiction or who just would love to read an outstanding book. Before reading, I knew nothing of Mary Lincoln or of President Lincoln, however, this book has sparked my interest in looking for more information on this woman's life and the trials she faced. Mary Lincoln's strength and pure feminine nature shines throughout this book---awesome read!
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