The Emancipator's Wife

January 10, 2005
Hambly (A Free Man of Color
, etc.) has a knack for bringing historical figures to life in all their flawed humanity. This touching portrait of Mary Todd, a brilliant but troubled belle in Kentucky when she meets Abraham Lincoln in 1839, recounts Mary's personal struggles and triumphs and describes the general state of women in the 19th century, as well as supplies an evenhanded overview of the political and practical issues surrounding the emancipation of the slaves. With her sharp intelligence, social skill and standing, and political astuteness, Mary seems the perfect partner for Lincoln. But her emotional problems hobble her from the start and worsen over the years under the tremendous strain of political life and with the terrible loss of three of her four sons as well as her husband. Ten years after Lincoln's assassination, Mary's sole remaining son is fighting a court battle to have his mother declared insane. Told from her own perspective and that of some fictionalized historical figures like Frederick Douglass, Mary's story, including her hard-won insight into her own difficulties and her addiction to her laudanum-laced medicine, is moving. Despite a jarring abruptness to some of the changes in point of view and the slow pace of the narration, the novel paints a full, nuanced picture of a talented, tormented woman. Agent, Frances Collin.

January 1, 2005
Hambly's (Days of the Dead) enthralling new historical novel about Mary Todd Lincoln demonstrates the same sense of place and period detail as her popular Benjamin January series. Moving back and forth in time through the mid-19th century, Hambly depicts Mary's life in Lexington, KY, as a flirtatious Southern belle who resents her stepmother, craves her father's attention, and slowly becomes aware of the different worlds of men and women, whites and blacks. Her explosive temper and debilitating migraines were a critical factor in her daily activities. Alternating chapters describe how Mary's son Robert had her declared insane and committed to a private sanitarium; throughout, there is stream-of-consciousness commentary from Mary, which adds another level of narration. Hambly goes beyond Mary's relationship with Lincoln, her shrewish behavior, and the very real physical and emotional pain that led her to self-medicate with various "female" cordials containing opium and/or alcohol. She deals with the basic issue of how women were regarded at that time: as weak, hysterical, and constitutionally incapable of intellectual or financial ability. Issues of spiritualism, mental illness, addiction, race, and politics are interwoven, giving the reader a clearer understanding of their pervasiveness and influence. This sympathetic yet unabsolving portrait of a much-maligned figure belongs in all public libraries.-Ann Fleury, Tampa-Hillsborough Cty. P.L., FL

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2004
Hambly has painted a compelling fictional portrait of one of the most maligned and misunderstood First Ladies in American history. Born into a prominent Lexington family, pretty and passionate Mary Todd always had difficulty controlling her legendary temper. Plagued by headaches and spells even as a child, she suffered--according to the inadequate medical lexicon of the day--from female problems and a nervous disposition. Defying both her family and convention, the independent-minded Mary married a debt-ridden bumpkin with dubious long-term prospects. Even marriage to the undisputed love of her life did not bring her enduring happiness or contentment. Although she and Lincoln enjoyed an egalitarian partnership, she continued to be haunted by voices and visions that often led to fits of hysteria. Her delicate mental health was made even more precarious by the tragic and untimely deaths of three of her four sons and by her husband's assassination. Brought up on charges of lunacy by her son Robert in 1875, she fights for her own emancipation as she revisits pivotal episodes in her storied past. As the action stretches back and forth through time, an intelligent woman struggles to come to terms with depression and addiction in a society ill-equipped to cope with mental illness of any sort.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)