Did you learn anything new about the historical figures in the book? Did your opinion of them change? Were any new to you? Were there real-life individuals presented who you would like to know more about?

Did you learn anything new about the historical figures in the book (Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, et.al.)? Did your opinion of them change? Were any new to you? Were there real-life individuals presented who you would like to know more about?

As one of the most misunderstood historical figures in this country's history, I was pleased the author chose to portray Mary Todd Lincoln in a way that offered empathy from the reader. More often than not she is portrayed unkindly in print and the author shed some, albeit in a limited way, light into how the tragedies of her life shaped her development as a human being.

I saw a different side to both Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln. She was presented as kinder, softer, more caring than I have often read of her, and he was presented, at least in my mind, as more aloof regarding his family than I hoped him and have been taught to believe him to be. I also thought that William Douglas was presented in a more balanced way than I have read him to be. Initially he is portrayed as negative, but the author is fair to him when she comments that he made himself available to the President, to help him in any way that he could.

It was nice to see Mary Todd presented in a way that you could emphasize with her. She is so often presented in a bad light. She definitely had her difficult moods, emotions and painful loss in her life.

Mary Todd Lincoln was presented in different light than had been presented to me in the past a more compassionate person who cared about family yes but a wider group of people in society plus the families servants. Overall, the novel presented a truer picture of society at that time.

I thought overall there wasn't strong character development in this book. Lincoln was described in ways that made him more human to me with a bit of a disconnect with his family where he was by choice gone for long periods but yet very focused on his boys when he was home. Mary was a difficult person. I wavered between feeling empathy for her and irritation at how cold and calculating she seemed in deciding who had worth to her.

I'm not sure I learned much new about Lincoln or his wife. Others have commented on how the author presented Mary in a more compassionate manner. I did not know how much influence she had on Lincoln's policy decisions nor that Mary's family was so emotionally bound to each other--the siblings from the first marriage.

I did not know much about Mary Todd prior to reading this book and found Horan's writings of her both humanistic with glances of her more realistic and sometimes negative traits. Given the trauma she experienced from the war, loss of children, her sibling separation and eventual assassination of Lincoln I can see how she would end up with mental difficulties. I am intrigued to read more about her from current historians.

I had not read much about Mary Todd Lincoln, so I liked learning about her. She went through a lot of family hardships, with death of brothers in the war, death of her boys and Lincoln's assassination. Of 14 living offspring of her father, 8 sided with the South. Two from the South visited her in the White House asking for favors, which Lincoln denied. "Southerners called her a traitor, and Northeners called her a spy in the White House." Her son Robert had her committed to a mental hospital.

It was nice to see Mary Todd Lincoln portrayed in a better light than I have seen in the past. Other works have mostly focused on her behavior after Lincoln's death and I was surprised to see that she had an astute political mind.

Turtlewoman -- if you haven't read it, I think you might enjoy Louis Baynard's Courting Mr Lincoln which is partially told from the perspective of the very capable Mary Todd
https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/3919

I would have loved for the story to have been more about the Lincolns themselves. I loved "Loving Frank" and "Under the Wide and Starry Sky." Both those books focused on the woman behind the man. I thought that was what this book would be like so was disappointed.

I had no idea about the riots in Springfield. I thought the author did a great job portraying the horror the residents went through especially the African American community. As others noted I found Abraham Lincoln to be more distant from his family but that too was due to his job and the travel required. I am glad the author portrayed Mary with more empathy as even with her faults Mary lost three sons and her husband. I don’t know how you cannot feel a terrible sadness for her.

Yes and no. .Horan gave us a more sympathetic picture of Mary Todd but she never became a character I cared about. Neither of the Lincolns....I think I learned more about Springfield and society during their time when what I really wanted was to see the raw emotions and strengths of all the women behind the man.

I’m not sure I learned much that was new, but even a little made a difference. Mary shouldered most of the household responsibilities, including raising the Lincolns’ sons. She also had close relationships with her sisters and their spouses, not all of whom agreed with her and her husband’s Union position. I also did not realize she could not control her spending, which did no make her a popular First Lady (even with her husband).