My high expectations for this book weren’t entirely met. I enjoyed many portions of it, but felt the subject was given a somewhat shallow treatment and fleshed out with uninteresting details on occasion. This may have more to do with the fact there weren’t witnesses to the more intimate and deep details of the Lincoln’s marriage. But certainly, Mary’s temper, unrestrained spending and need to draw attention to herself were observed by many. I can’t help but wonder how their marriage would have ended if Abraham had not been elected President. What would life together have been if he was a lawyer or even served in the Senate or Congress. Poor Mary likely deserves her rather bad reputation and comes off as high handed and lacking in social maturity, mostly driven by her ego and what we’d now define as bi polar disorder. Abraham doesn’t come off completely unscathed either, despite his ability to win people over with his jokes and stories. He didn’t get long to enjoy his momentous victory which aged and stressed him incredibly. Really a tragic story for all concerned. The book ends with the 1865 assassination so I will search out another book to cover the sad years until Mary’s death in 1882. ( )

reviewed here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/books/03maslin.html?th&emc=th

5693. The Lincolns Portrait of a Marriage, by Daniel Mark Epstein (read 30 May 2020) Often interesting, though filled with information not needed. Lincoln come off as a patient man, putting up with his wife's peculiarities. His wife is eager to have her husband succeed, and when he became president she eagerly sought things she did not need, and was often a pain to her husband., who had idiosyncrasies of his own. The book recounts fully the events of April 15, 1865 but spends little time on Mrs. Lincoln's life thereafter, though she lived till 15 July 1882, ( )

This book was really interesting and, at the time when I read it (a while ago), I feel like not many people talked about the Lincolns and their marriage (or maybe I was just incredibly uninformed in my younger years which is probably actually the most accurate). This book sheds light on the Lincoln dynamic as a couple (and I have so many opinions about Mary Todd - bless Abe's heart). It was really interesting and well done. ( )

I read The Lincolns after attending a conference in Springfield, IL and visiting the excellent Lincoln Museum there and the home he and his family lived in for 17 years or so. Both locales alluded to Lincoln as husband and father, and I bought this book because of the interest they piqued in me. I liked the book very, very much. A biography of a marriage is a rather unusual way to handle history, and I think the author, Daniel Epstein, did an outstanding job. Both Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln were shown as very bright, very human, with some flaws (more in her case) and a great deal of tragedy in their lives. A movie of Lincoln's last days is coming out shortly, and I must see it after reading this moving book. ( )