The First Lady and the Rebel

[L Verge]

Our own Susan Higginbotham, author of a number of historical novels (including the popular one Hanging Mary) will have a new one coming out in October. I have now read over 200 pages of a pre-publication edition and love it!

The First Lady and the Rebel is based on Mrs. Lincoln and her Southern sympathizing sister, Emily Todd Helm, and it is hard to put down as it covers basic history, personalities of the two, political and social issues that they dealt with as well as the war and the heartbreak.

Sorry, gents, it is definitely a made-for-the-fair-sex read; but I can offer a Christmas gift suggestion. If you have a wife, mother, or teenage daughter with the slightest interest in the Lincoln story - without having to wade through all that sloppy political jargon - you need to consider this as a present.

As a sidebar: Last Sunday, we had a mother in a wheelchair accompanied by two daughters and a granddaughter visit Surratt House. I was working that day and struck up a conversation. They were from Ohio and had spent the past week visiting Civil War battlefields and sites in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

Their last stop before heading home that evening (a six-hour drive) was the Surratt House. They specifically had come for a visit because the mother had read Susan's Hanging Mary and was intrigued.

When they found out that Susan was a volunteer guide at the museum, they were astounded. When I told them that she was scheduled to work this coming Sunday, they were quite upset that they had missed her. BTW folks, Susan and her family (and two feisty dogs) drive about two hours each way once a month so that she can volunteer at Surratt House. That's dedication!

[Susan Higginbotham]

Thanks so much, Laurie! The dogs love driving to Surratt House! They get excited when Mom puts on the puffy dress and when they see the red house.

[Steve]

Congratulations on the new book Susan!

Wow two hours each way to volunteer at the Surratt House each month. Laurie's right, that's dedication. I live maybe 3-4 hours away and have yet to visit in person.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Congratulations, Susan, sounds interesting! (Not sure I got this correctly - is it a novel?) I agree on the dedication! (What dogs are they?) What a neat story,! Laurie (although I feel for the family they have missed Susan)!

[AussieMick]

Just goes to show that I shouldnt make assumptions ... I had Susan as being in the UK (she answered several of my UK-based trivia questions).

[Susan Higginbotham]

Thanks, everyone! Eva, it is a novel. AussieMick, I'm just an American Anglophile.

Dudley is a cairn terrier, and I'm told that Emmy is a Jack Russell/cattle dog mix. It's hard to get a good picture of them together because they're usually barking, but here's one:

[Eva Elisabeth]

Very sweet, Susan!!

[Susan Higginbotham]

Especially when they're sound asleep, like now!

[LincolnMan]

Yes, congratulations!

[RJNorton]

Wonderful, Susan! Congratulations! You are a terrific author.

[Susan Higginbotham]

Thanks, Bill and Roger!

[Gene C]

On Thursday, November 14, come meet forum member Susan Higginbotham at the Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington, KY, as she makes a presentation on her new book about Mary Lincoln and her half sister Emilie Todd Helm

See details here - https://www.mtlhouse.org/new-events

[RJNorton]

(10-30-2019 06:33 AM)Gene C Wrote:  On Thursday, November 14, come meet forum member Susan Higginbotham at the Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington, KY, as she makes a presentation on her new book about Mary Lincoln and her half sister Emilie Todd Helm

See details here - https://www.mtlhouse.org/new-events

That's neat, Susan! Hope all goes well.

[Susan Higginbotham]

Thanks, Gene and Roger!

[L Verge]

The book is excellent! I got a review copy from the publisher and couldn't put it down because it is very readable and much more positive in its approach than other renditions of Mary Lincoln. While it is termed fiction, it is quite non-fiction to me.