Abraham Lincoln arrived in Springfield,Illinois, in 1837. He was born and raised in Kentucky. His family was dirt poor and he had little formal education. On a borrowed horse, a few law books, a change of clothes, and a personal debt of $1,000.00, Lincoln hoped that he
…more could succeed as a lawyer. He was a real country bumpkin. The first person he met in town was Joshua Speed. He was a storekeeper who offered to provide him with a bed in the room above the store. Over the course of time, he taught Lincoln how to function in polite society. He groomed him for his ultimate future.
Mary Todd arrived in Springfield in 1839. She arrived with plenty of fancy clothes. Her family was a part of high society in Kentucky. Her hope was to find a husband. Her sister Elizabeth Edwards and her husband provided a home for her. Elizabeth took it upon herself to find an appropriate husband for her sister.
These two young people would never had met if they had stayed in Kentucky. The story of the courtship and marriage of Mary and Abraham is told through the eyes of Mary Todd and Joshua Speed. Often times the same event is described differently by the two storytellers. The social mores of Springfield and the complexities of the personalities of the couple made courting a real challenge. Added to that was the strong disapproval of Elizabeth Edwards to that relationship.
This is a book of historical fiction. The author,Louis Bayard, makes the reader feel like he/she has a ringside seat to the couple's courtship. Though it is never stated, he also makes a strong argument that without the support and love of Mary Todd and Joshua Speed there never would have been a President Lincoln. (less)
