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I can't decide how I feel about this book... It was definitely interesting, and I could NOT put it down. The life of Mary Todd Lincoln is fascinating-- she endured more in her lifetime than any person should have to. She lost 3 of her 4 sons as well as her husband to an assassin-- an event she witnessed. She was completely abused by the newspaper and other media of the time throughout her husband's presidency and for many, many years after, until her death. She was also committed against her will to an insane assylum by her only living son after her youngest son Taddie died and she was overcome with depression and grief. I could not help but sympathize with this poor woman, and what she sacrificed to the country. Major issue number one with the book was really the author's doing-- she took liberties with Mary Todd and Abraham's relationship, depicting that because her family so disapproved of the match that their idea was to get her pregnant out of wedlock so they would have to approve of their marriage. So they did, resulting in their son Robert, who according to historical dates was born exactly 9 months after their wedding date. Issue number 2, I disliked how she characterized Lincoln as a complete misfit. We all know he did suffer from debilitating depression, but it's hard to believe he ever became president they way she describes is ineptitude and his political success she credits totally to Mary's doing. Final issue, she writes that Mary has an affair during Lincoln's first year or his presidency b/c he is so absorbed in the Civil War drama and she feels an overwhelming sense of abandonment. Those 3 issues to me, took away from the nature of the story and the biographical value of the book.