Customer Reviews

The Emancipator's Wife: A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Barbara Hambly's reputation for thorough historical research and meticulous attention to detail is abundantly evident in this innovative and incisive biography of Mary Todd Lincoln, The Emancipator's Wife. In her critically acclaimed Benjamin January series, set in early 19th Century New Orleans, Ms. Hambly breathed life into a vanished world by peopling it with colorful, multi-dimensional characters who lingered long after the last page was read. She repeats that difficult achievement here as she lays bare the heart, soul and flaws of the exuberant and exasperating woman who was, arguably, our most controversial First Lady. Not only are Ms. Hambly's backdrops of Washington City, Chicago, Lexington and Springfield deftly drawn but she also illuminates a dark, largely ignored corner of American history -- the fate of newly freed slaves released into a society ill-equipped to handle them. The picture painted of these lost souls is shameful and not a little disturbing, as is this portrait of Mrs. Lincoln. It's impossible to read The Emancipator's Wife without seeing its subject in a startlingly new light.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Keeping in mind that this is a fictional representation, it displays Mrs. Lincoln in such a way that many of the things people disliked about her are explainable, if not exactly forgivable. Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and the Spiritualist movement are not plumbed deeply, but used more as background. I liked the feeling of being in Civil War America and the view from Mary Todd's eyes was interesting and gave me a lot to think about.

Hambly's Benjamin January series is fantastic, and I've read each one as it has come out. Her genuine talent for research and for interweaving it with fiction and into a story makes her one of the best historical fiction writers I've had the pleasure to read--and I've read a lot of them.
Gore Vidal's "Lincoln," the only other work related work I've read, was excellent in its sweeping exploration of the war and Lincoln's role in it, but this is much more personal, much more focused work.
Mary Todd Lincoln is the subject, and I've found most descriptions of her "insanity" to be purely unsympathetic. Hambly makes her a sympathetic figure--a woman trapped in a time when her legitimate mental illness could not have been treated effectively, even had her socially conscious family allowed treatment to occur. She became addicted to opium as a very young woman due to the opium-based women's "elixirs" often prescribed for "female hysteria" at that time. The opium made her symptoms worse, as did the many tragedies that she suffered.
My favorite aspect of Hambly's novels is her ability to create three-dimensional black characters. In most historical fiction, African Americans are dealt with on a superficial level. Hambly fleshes out her characters and makes them real.
I recommend this novel to anyone interested in the Lincolns, the Civil War, mental illness, slavery/slaves/slave owners/freedmen or anything else about that time period.

Probably a 3+ or 4-, really.

A character study and fictionalized biography of Mary Todd Lincoln, President Lincoln's wife.

Hambly gives a sympathetic analysis of Mary Lincoln's character, putting her well within historical context while portraying some of her troubles -- overspending, for example -- in terms many modern readers will personally relate to. The story's pacing moves well when it covers Mary's girlhood and her early courtship with Lincoln, and it rises to a peak of tension when she is committed to an insane asylum; at other times, due to Hambly's apparent determination to cover every event in Mary's life over many years, the tension drops and the story drags, at least for me. The story is entirely from Mary's point of view with the exception of brief segments from other perspectives which may not have been entirely necessary. Certainly, the worldview and political views expressed seem to be Mary's.

And because of that, though this novel is in large part a love story, it does not analyze Mr. Lincoln's character to any great extent. It has almost nothing to say about his political decisions and is uncritically orthodox in its view of him as good-hearted abolitionist. Lincoln here is an appealing character, but not necessarily a sterling work of accurate historical reconstruction.

Nor is the novel a Civil War story; most of the action takes place before the war and in 1875, and though of course the war is covered it is nearly all offscreen.

Although I think this book has considerable depth and subtlety and is at times quite moving, I'm not sure to whom it will appeal. Readers of Hambly's top-notch fantasy and historical mysteries may find this has not enough action for them - as may readers of Civil War novels and historical fiction in general. It may appeal to readers of historical fiction writers like Vidal and Doctorow; people who like the fictionalized biographies of famous women by authors such as Antonia Fraser may also enjoy this.

Now living just outside Springfield and having grown up next to Batavia, IL I REALLY feel I've walked where Mary Todd Lincoln walked. But moreso, I find that so much has not changed - women in their middle years, women who have suffered loss, women who are driven to some extremes are never fully understood. While reading this it crossed my mind to ask living First Ladies what they think of this book. I was enchanted and romanced but also felt sympathy and dismay. What would our country be if Lincoln had married Ann Rutledge and would he have been elected? Did Mary make a difference? I'm betting she did. Thanks for the enhanced story of her life. Historical fiction can be informative if we can separate the truth from the fiction.

I really enjoyed this book. I was sorry when it came to an end. This is the type of book you will want to keep in your library to re-read over the years and to pass along to others. I definitely recommend it.

The Emancipator's Wife
by Barbara Hambly

Premise: The life and times of Mary Todd aka Mrs. Abraham Lincoln.


Review: Weirdly enough I have seen a couple of reviews on this book that complain that there's not enough info on Lincoln or battles, etc on the Civil War. My take on that is "Huh?" Did they not read the title? It's called The Emancipator's WIFE. This is not a book about Licoln or the war, though both are definitely involved. This is the story of Mary Todd Lincoln. The thing I like to say most about this book is - WOW. It was a totally eye opening experience. While a work of fiction, it does have a lot of historical research involved and it is presented in a wonderfully entertaining manner. You get to see the issues facing that time period from all sides and can view the complexities not normally discussed regarding slavery, the Civil War, and the wide ranging opinions on what solutions would be best for all involved.

Even more amazing, is the view into the shackles placed on women, by men, society, and women themselves. The concepts on medicine and the female anatomy are astounding. And the legal rights of women considered odd/insane by male relatives totally disturbing.

This is the story of a strong woman, dealing with internal and external difficulties. I found it riveting and incredibly fascinating. Kudos to Hambly for tackling this subject! If anyone can make history come to life, it is definitely her!