Author’s writing style

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan was rich in character development and entertainment. I felt that The House of Lincoln was written in an educational style that focused on historical events and dates and lacked the element of entertainment. What is your opinion of the writing style Horan used in The House of Lincoln?

I am not sure why this book surprised me as much as it did, but probably this is because it was more historical and political and date-driven and less "entertaining" than Loving Frank. By entertaining, of course I mean that I did not find this book to be as light in its tone. I appreciated the introduction of many chapters with a date to help me recognize where in time I might be when reading. I also thought the use of the two girls and their friendship, their growing up and growing away from one another a very clever way of exemplifying the developing movement in our country while at the same time mimicking the novel's theme. Lincoln's election and Cal's move to Chicago occur simultaneously and thereby provide a natural division between Parts One and Two of the book. Likewise at this juncture, the novel's tone becomes distinctly darker as well.

Thank you for weighing in. One of the reasons I was eager to read House of Lincoln was because it was written by Nancy Horan. The darkness of the novel was surprising to me. When I finished reading House of Lincoln I felt I learned about politics and events, but I didn’t feel as though I engaged with the characters as much as I had hoped to.

The author's writing style provided an insightful and captivating historical fiction novel that was well researched. In addition concentrating on providing the reader a personal perspective of a multitude of characters provided a further understanding of the decision making process and their personal changes over the course of the novel.

The tone the author developed and maintained throughout the novel was melancholy and dark; it was appropriate to the theme. Earlier I mentioned that Ana's thoughts were almost like entries in a diary. I also mentioned previously that I didn't think this was a story about Ana, Cal, the Donnegans, the Lincolns or Ana's family, but the story of the city of Springfield, IL, and the characters helped tell the story.

I was looking forward to reading The House of Lincoln as I have read many books on Lincoln and the time period of the Civil War and I have not been disappointed . I find the development of the characters and the people involved in this period of time well done. Nancy Horan does a good job helping the reader see what life was like not just for one character but many characters during a dark period of history.

The author is matter of fact, which I like in a historical novel. She paints a picture of the time period.

The strength of the novel for me rests in its examination of historical events and people such as the Lincolns and Douglas. The writing style is workmanlike and matter-of-fact, not lyrical. While I prefer the latter in a novel, I found the style did its job of telling the story. There is also an educational slant. At times, the characters seemed to become mouthpieces to explain various political positions and historical events, which risks being preachy, but I did learn a lot.

I found the author's writing style in this novel to be workmanlike and straightforward. I also found that she did not develop many of the characters as much as I would have liked, due to the many plot strands (too many, in fact). A richer development of character would have benefited the novel.

I agree with Borntoread, as much as I appreciated the straightforward descriptions of events, fewer more developed characters would have provided some depth to the novel. I would have liked to know more about Cal’s character and her family life. Cal and Ana had very different upbringings and seeing them side by side would have been quite interesting.

Having read Loving Frank, I was disappointed. While I want characters depicted as they really were, I felt there was still a missing piece in Mary Todd's and Ana's.

I agree with your thoughts!

Compared to her previous books, I was definitely disappointed. It didn't flow as well as the previous ones. I had to make myself continue reading it. I will now be reluctant to read her next one.