JANIS COOKE NEWMAN is the author of the memoir The Russian Word for Snow.

It is also an old-fashioned pleasure to read.” The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) Like its protagonist, Mary is bold, happy to trample upon convention. Lincolnand her 19th-century sistersin a new, more respectful light.” USA Today after reading Mary, youll view stout little Mrs. You feel a compulsion to urge others to read it. Mary is one of those rare books that turns the reader into an admiring fan of both the author and her subject.

In this irresistible novel, Mary Todd Lincoln shares the story of her life in her own words, allowing us entry into the inner, intimate world of this brave and fascinating woman. Yet she also ran her family into debt, held séances in the White House, and was committed to an insane asylum. The first presidents wife to be called First Lady, 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. Mary Todd Lincoln is one of historys most misunderstood and enigmatic women. She was also a political strategist, a comfort to wounded soldiers, a supporter of emancipation, the first to be called First Lady, and a wife and mother who survived the loss of three children and the assassination of her beloved husband.From the Trade Paperback edition.USA Todays Best Historical Fiction of the Year Intelligent and unconventional-and, some thought, mad-she held séances in the White House, ran her family into debt with compulsive shopping, negotiated with conniving politicians, and raised her young sons during the Civil War. From her tempestuous childhood in a slaveholding Southern family through the opium clouded years after her husband's death, we are let into the inner, intimate world of this brave and fascinating woman. A dramatic tale filled with passion and depression, poverty and ridicule, infidelity and redemption, this is the unforgettable story of Mary Todd Lincoln-one of history's most enigmatic and misunderstood women.Writing from Bellevue asylum-where the shrieks of the other inmates keep her awake at night-a famous widow finally shares the story of her life in her own words.

Mary by Janis Cooke Newman