The First Lady and the Rebel
This novel, running from 1839-1876, lightly fictionalizes the relationship between Mary Todd Lincoln and one of her half-sisters, Emily Todd Helm. It is well-researched and full of detail about American history, although the focus—and by far the most interesting part of the book—is on the Civil War years. Mary, of course, was Abraham Lincoln’s wife, and Emily was married to Confederate Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm. The two couples had a close personal relationship before the war, with Lincoln offering Helm a position in Washington D.C. Helm turned it down to return to the South and support the secessionist cause.
Mary Todd Lincoln, born in Kentucky, had roots in the South but, like her husband, was a strong Union supporter. Emily was staunchly in favor of the secessionist South. Both women suffered great tragedies as they lost family members to death, disease, battle, and assassination during the wartime era. Both were fairly ordinary women married to prominent husbands and trying to get through the dangers and difficulties of the Civil War days. Mary had some psychological issues, possibly exacerbated by head injuries and grief. Emily never freed her slave, Maggie, which certainly makes this otherwise admirable woman less attractive to the modern reader.
History buffs will enjoy the endless detail and minutiae of this lengthy book. I found the war years dramatic and gripping, but the many pages before and after the Civil War were tedious. I would have liked this book better as non-fiction. It was crying out for photographs, although readers can find them easily enough by a quick online search. Higginbotham’s author’s note discusses imaginary scenes and why she included them.
