To play along, just answer the following three questions ... • What are you currently reading? Mary by Janis Cooke Newman. Massive -- 600+ pages -- and fascinating. This is Mary Lincoln's fictional autobiography and I am enjoying it immensely. It begins in the looney bin in Batavia, Illinois, where she was placed at the instigation of her only remaining son. I've read my fair share about the first woman in our history to have the title of First Lady, and so far the settings and narrative seem historically accurate. Her voice? Historical fiction is always dangerous in this regard, but I like thinking this is what Mary was really like: loyal, tempestuous, smart, and frighteningly fragile. This lady withstood a staggering amount of loss in her life -- beginning with the death of her mother when she was 6 -- and there's no disputing that life got the better of her. Unlike the First Lady shown here, with whom she shared many similarities, Mary simply wasn't tough enough to play the hand life dealt her.
I actually ordered "Mary" from a used book source after you wrote about it recently--haven't received it yet but now I'm even more anxious to read it!
ReplyDeleteI just added Mary to my Goodreads list. I didn't even know it was out there, but I really want to read it. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou can see what I'm reading at http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2014/04/wwwwednesdays-april-2.html
When my daughter was in third grade, she was assigned Mary Todd as her research/presentation subject. Both of us were fascinated by her! I'm going to add it over on goodreads!
ReplyDeleteAfter Visiting Friends sounds really interesting - I have never heard that adage but I will be using it tomorrow now :-)
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of these before but Mary sounds like an interesting read.
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