I like them

I'm nearly halfway through The Lincolns by Daniel Mark Epstein. He has just been nominated for President. I'm almost tempted to stop reading now because I'm enjoying this book so much, have grown so fond of this couple, that I hate what I know is about to happen to them: War, the loss of another child, the death of Mary's family members on the Confederate battlefield, and, inexorably, his murder. As if that's not bad enough, Mary's widowhood includes bankruptcy, madness and the death of a third son. So much loss is almost impossible to consider, but not confronting it won't stop it all from happening to these two. (I feel this way when I read about Princess Diana, like if I put the book away before she goes to Paris, I can somehow undo what happened next.)

I'm including these photos with this post, rather than the book cover, because they were Mary Lincoln's favorites, taken, she was fond of saying, "when we were young and so desperately in love."