Welcome

[Trudy Krisher]

(01-17-2015 08:24 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I started reading the book this evening and finished about fifty pages. I am thoroughly enjoying learning so much about a little girl that previously has just floated through some of the volumes that I have read about the Lincoln assassination and the Civil War years in Washington, D.C. I suspect I am going to give it an A+ at the end, just as I did the American Queen and Kate Chase.

I agree with Linda that Mrs. Seward may have suffered from anxiety disorder, which can cause people to think one is a hypochondriac. From just these few chapters, I suspect that Frances Seward was coddled by her father and expected the same from a husband. When she acquired an extrovert for a husband, I wonder if her feigning illness (knowingly or unknowingly) led to her chronic "illnesses" in order to try and get that coddling?

Mrs. Seward was certainly very active in social issues of the day, especially in her concerns for the welfare of black Americans. She must not have been too sickly to work in that field. In fact, Ms. Kircher points out that she wanted reforms and emancipation to come much faster than even her husband and that was a bone of contention between them,

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Dear Laurie,

Thank you for your nice comments about "my Fanny" and for the remarks about Frances Seward as well.

Mrs. Seward is an absolutely fascinating character. I do deal with her in a bit more detail later in the book. Her husband the Secretary said "I am an enigma unto myself." His wife was equally enigmatic. In her actions on behalf of the slave, her behavior was absolutely consistent with her beliefs, no wavering, no doubt. Of course, she was not a "politician" as her husband was. It is heartbreaking to think that she did not have the benefit of modern medicine or the benefit of a more empowering environment for women. She was her husband's equal in matters of intelligence, no doubt. And there was a bit of connivance, I suspect, in her withdrawal. She did not enjoy social activities, so it may have been "convenient" to have the excuse of illness to fall back on.

I am not a technical person who is online much in discussion forums, but I'll do my best here! Someone once said that being drawn into the Sewards was like being drawn into The Mob - once you get in, you can't get out! That is surely my situation!

Very best,
Trudy Krisher