Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly

[Gene C]

Written by Jennifer Fleischner.
On the book cover, under the title "The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between A First Lady And a Former Slave"

Pretty interesting book. Well researched and well written. She presents some aspects of both women's lives that I had not thought of, and also draws some conclusions I don't quite agree with. 325 pages of text and 33 pages end notes. This book is basically a biography of both women, from birth to death.

My main disappointment in the book - it's not until page 202 that they meet each other. The assassination and time until Mary leaves Washington DC takes about 8 pages. Mary's used clothing sale scandal and Elizabeth's book "Behind the Scenes" takes only 15 pages. Their remaining years following this takes only 7 pages.

The book has a lot of background information that is interesting, but I was disappointed that only 1/3 of the book dealt with The Remarkable Story of Their Friendship and time together. Their post White House years was inadequately covered. Could also have used a few more and better photographs.

https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Lincoln-Keckl...fleischner

There are two reviews on Amazon that expressed better than I did, what I felt were the weaknesses in the book. They are by E Evans (3 star rating) and Jackie Rowles (2 star rating).

[Susan Higginbotham]

I read this a couple of years ago. I liked the extensive coverage of Keckley's early life.

[L Verge]

I read this a couple of years ago. I liked the extensive coverage of Keckley's early life.

I will admit to not having read the book, even though we sell it in the gift shop. I have heard from others that it is the best on this particular subject, however. There is another more fictionalized account by Jennifer Chiavereni that is supposed to be pretty good also.

I can understand why the heavy emphasis on both women's early lives in order to set the stage for how they came to develop a strong friendship. Very few people even know the name "Keckly," and quite a few others know very little about Mary Todd before she became Mary Lincoln.

[Susan Higginbotham]

I liked the novel by Jennifer Chiavereni as well.

Gene, in case you didn't see them, last year I posted some pictures from Hillsborough, NC of a historical marker for Keckley, the house where she was enslaved in that town, and the tombstone of her son's father:

http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...ht=Burwell

[Gene C]

Great photo's Susan.
Nice to see the home still standing. Adds a little more to Mrs. Keckly's story and what she went through, to actually see where some of the events took place.