The Emancipator's Wife

Hambly's Benjamin January series is fantastic, and I've read each one as it has come out. Her genuine talent for research and for interweaving it with fiction and into a story makes her one of the best historical fiction writers I've had the pleasure to read--and I've read a lot of them. Gore Vidal's "Lincoln," the only other work related work I've read, was excellent in its sweeping exploration of the war and Lincoln's role in it, but this is much more personal, much more focused work. Mary Todd Lincoln is the subject, and I've found most descriptions of her "insanity" to be purely unsympathetic. Hambly makes her a sympathetic figure--a woman trapped in a time when her legitimate mental illness could not have been treated effectively, even had her socially conscious family allowed treatment to occur. She became addicted to opium as a very young woman due to the opium-based women's "elixirs" often prescribed for "female hysteria" at that time. The opium made her symptoms worse, as did the many tragedies that she suffered. My favorite aspect of Hambly's novels is her ability to create three-dimensional black characters. In most historical fiction, African Americans are dealt with on a superficial level. Hambly fleshes out her characters and makes them real. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in the Lincolns, the Civil War, mental illness, slavery/slaves/slave owners/freedmen or anything else about that time period.

I really enjoyed this book. I was sorry when it came to an end. This is the type of book you will want to keep in your library to re-read over the years and to pass along to others. I definitely recommend it.

Preface: I am a librarian at a local public library. I am also a long-time FAN of Barbara Hambly's novels, both historical mysteries and her numerous fantasy works. This book is insightful and thought-provoking. Hambly uses her fine ability to write sympathetic, yet very human characters to provide a credible portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln. Is this book the final word on Mrs. Lincoln? No. Do I have a greater awareness of the complexity of life in the American 19th century, especially from a woman's perspective? Yes! Barbara Hambly is a historian by training and her ability to weave the details of a time and place make her historical (and fantasy!) books a pleasure to read. At times you can feel the oppressive humidity or find yourself wrapped in the sights and sounds of a parlor scene or find your heart beating in anticipation or fear along with Mrs. Lincoln. Fans of Tracy Chevalier's novels may enjoy this title, as well as readers of Ahab's Wife by Sena Jester Naslund. If you find that you like Hambly's narrative style and American historical fiction, you might try her Benjamin January series that is set in New Orleans during the 1830s-40's. The first book in the series is A Free Man of Color. A final note: If you are looking for a biographical work that focuses on life of Abraham Lincoln or a Civil War novel with lots of action scenes, this book is not for you. Nevertheless, I would encourage Civil War fiction readers to consider this book for the cultural context it provides to this pivotal period of American history.

The Emancipator's Wife by Barbara Hambly is a great novel...emphasis on the word NOVEL. I have noticed before reading the book that others have given it a less than superior rating on basis that not all of the facts on Mary lincoln's life were true and that is right. this book is not in any way a biography of Mary Lincoln's life. There are other numerious books out there that do that. The Emancipator's wife is, instead, a work of historical fiction based on the life of one amazing woman. I could not put this book down and finished it in probably three days. The use of detail that Ms. Hambly uses in her writing is superb; the reader really feels like they are living through all of the horrific experiences that Mary Lincoln had to face. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves historical fiction or who just would love to read an outstanding book. Before reading, I knew nothing of Mary Lincoln or of President Lincoln, however, this book has sparked my interest in looking for more information on this woman's life and the trials she faced. Mary Lincoln's strength and pure feminine nature shines throughout this book---awesome read!

Barbara Hambly's reputation for thorough historical research and meticulous attention to detail is abundantly evident in this innovative and incisive biography of Mary Todd Lincoln, The Emancipator's Wife. In her critically acclaimed Benjamin January series, set in early 19th Century New Orleans, Ms. Hambly breathed life into a vanished world by peopling it with colorful, multi-dimensional characters who lingered long after the last page was read. She repeats that difficult achievement here as she lays bare the heart, soul and flaws of the exuberant and exasperating woman who was, arguably, our most controversial First Lady. Not only are Ms. Hambly's backdrops of Washington City, Chicago, Lexington and Springfield deftly drawn but she also illuminates a dark, largely ignored corner of American history -- the fate of newly freed slaves released into a society ill-equipped to handle them. The picture painted of these lost souls is shameful and not a little disturbing, as is this portrait of Mrs. Lincoln. It's impossible to read The Emancipator's Wife without seeing its subject in a startlingly new light.