Mary

by Janis Cooke Newman

Book Overview

A fascinating and intimate novel of the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, narrated by the First Lady herself Mary Todd Lincoln is one of history's most misunderstood and enigmatic women. She was a political strategist, a supporter of emancipation, and a mother who survived the loss of three children and the assassination of her beloved husband. She also ran her family into debt, held seances in the White House, and was committed to an insane asylum--which...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 015603347X
• ISBN13: 9780156033473
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 640 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Reviled Mary Lincoln pleads her case...

Mary Lincoln has always been portrayed in movies (once by a frantically emoting Mary Tyler Moore) and historical novels (ie, Gore Vidal's Lincoln)as a migraine-plagued hysteric. In Cooke Newman's hands she is all of that, yes, but, more than that, Mary Lincoln becomes human. Granted, Mary here is presented as a shopaholic rivaling Andy Warhol, but, having to deal with Abe's own fits of catatonic melancholia as well as the death of 3 of her 4 children, she has to have some outlet for her frustration, doesn't she? And Robert, her only son to survive to adulthood, is anything but doting on his widowed mother. In fact he has Mary committed to Belleview Sanitarium outside Chicago largely due to her free thinking/shopaholic ways; Robert is almost a villain out of Dickens here, so cold and withdrawn is he toward his mother's plight. Only near the end of Mary's personal account of the events of her life up to and during her incarceration at Belleview, does the reader begin to see that maybe he was justified; as free thinking and liberated as Mary may be, years of massive doses of chloral hydrate and laudanum begin to take their toll. Added to her drug addiction is a rabid loneliness which draws her into the cloudy world of the seance in order to communicate in whatever way possible with her dearly departed: Eddie, Willy, Abe, and, finally, Tad. What emerges is a woman chased by demons no one around her is able to comprehend. Apparently laudanum (an opiate) was prescribed like aspirin in the second half of the 19th Century to cure everything from migraines to grief. Today Mary would be offered some counseling or a support group as a way of dealing with loss and disappointment, not drugged and left to her own devices as she is here. At over 700 pages, the novel is massive, but I could have read on and on, so engaging was Cooke Newman's work. She has done a beautiful job breathing new life into the saga of Mary Lincoln.

A Misunderstood First Lady

This is a tragic look into the life of a woman born in the wrong century. Her inner struggles and passions could never be forgiven or dealt with in the day in which she lived. I thought Janis Cooke Newman put this book together in a unique way that made it impossible to put down. Instead of telling the story from beginning to end, she interspersed it with the reality of Mary's life in an institution for the insane. Very ingenious and very interesting.

Couldn't put it down; didn't want it to end.

I propped my eyelids open until midnight last night to finish devouring Janis Cooke Newman's magnificent first novel. Those familiar with her work will recognize her inspired choice of detail, striking imagery & flowing style, but they are only the beginning of the delights you'll find here. From the first, I was drawn in by this character & her story, and when I reached page 600 & realized how close I was to finishing, I was torn by the drive to keep reading & the desire for the book not to end. The nature of Cooke Newman's previous work - memoirs & travel writing - provided a showcase for her own distinctive, decidedly contemporary, voice. Whenever I stopped to think about this being her book I'd listen for that voice, but all I heard was this 19th century woman who shares the author's ability to bring to life the written word. The voice & tone of this book are flawless - I read that Cooke Newman limited herself to reading works from the time period while writing, and it shows. Nonetheless, Mary is not a curiosity from another era - she is a breathing person whose longings I felt, whose betrayals & losses I dreaded & grieved. Others have written enough here to give you a sense of the story, and it is gripping. Let me just add that if you relish a complex, fascinating character who makes you care about her & want to know what happens to her, you will not want to miss Mary. She's a GREAT read!

A real page turner

I grew up in Illinois and all I ever learned was the standard party line about Mary Todd Lincoln: that she'd been committed to an insane asylum after her husband was assassinated. And that was where my knowledge stood until Janis's book came along to give a more compassionate take on why Mary might have done what she did (compulsive shopping, erratic behavior, seances, etc.) Many of us know that Mary Todd Lincoln lost three sons as well as her husband--but history gave her a bum rap because when she didn't behave in a manner that was considered seemly for a former First Lady. With the understanding of psychology and pharmacology we have now, Mary's actions make a lot more sense to us than they did 130 years ago. And it is the process of seeing how her actions unfolded that makes this such a page turner--though this book may seem long, it doesn't read that way at all. There is no bogging down in exposition; dialogue flows, and things happen on practically every page. I can't imagine a more compelling way to learn a little-told historical tale!

A Terrific Historical Novel

Janis Cooke Newman's novel is should please lovers of historical fiction as well as Lincoln aficionados, women's history readers, and civil war buffs. It is a cracking good read; rich in detail, engrossing, and an interesting take on an historical figure who continues to be controversial. Like Margaret George's "Autobiography of Henry VIII"--another great example of looking at familiar events through the eyes of its often-maligned main character--Newman allows Mary Todd Lincoln writes her own story, this time from the asylum where her son Robert has committed her. Like so many 19th century women, Mary had more physical desire than she was supposed to, and was starved for affection on top of it. Her losses were staggering--three sons dead, a husband shot to death while sitting next to her at Ford's Theater, and betrayal by a beloved friend---but while we might say that this would be enough to unbalance anyone, the 19th century was not so forgiving. Many women experienced this depth of loss and were expected to just get on with it. Mary could not. Her "appetites" for love and shopping (her desire to improve the look for the dirty, seedy White House and the resulting shopping sprees in New York) lead to debts and scandal. She believed that things would keep her and her family safe. She was not loved by the nation, nor by her only surviving son, Robert, a man born with little affection to give. But was she insane? She did lack the moderation and balance expected of women of her period. Newman's novel presents up a complex personality, someone of her time but not well suited to it. This rich and absorbing novel is highly recommended.