Oddly enough, I came away from this one wishing someone would do a serious look into the life of Robert Lincoln. While the idea of the son of Lincoln putting his mother into an asylum, Bellevue, gives me pause, as one who has dealt with a family member's increasingly erratic and even dangerous actions as dementia grew, I can also understand his sense of frustration and feelings of helpless. Not to say that Mary Todd Lincoln had dementia but many have theorized that she was bi-polar and that can be a difficult mental situation, too, so I can away with not only more empathy for Mary but her son, too. I was already aware of many of the big points of the book but this one, despite the title, provides a solid look at her life before Lincoln as well as after, too. Raised in a politically savvy, Southern leaning family that seemed to be torn apart by the Civil War, the multiple tragedies she endured certainly had an impact. That said, her frequently explosive, difficult personality, not to mention overspending in the public eye and her wandering about rootless after her days in the White House while dealing with financial issues, gained her few supporters.
I note there are several lengthy reviews already, so see no need to summarize the book. I knew enough about her going into the book to be intrigued but wasn't particularly sympathetic. Given her probably real medical/mental health issues, I did come away with more of an understanding of not just Mary but the times. My hunch is that most of you who read this one, probably history, Civil War, or Lincoln buffs, will come away the same. I honestly don't believe I'd have liked her much in real life, sadly, but at least I know some of the inner drive of what made her the woman she was. You'll learn some of the history of what and who shaped her, yes, as well as who/what shaped/drove those who were, to paraphrase, told her story through their own eyes.
Bottom line, an intriguing, if sad read. I'm not sure she ever really did triumph as the title indicates, but she did persevere and, as I was happy to read, actually was able to reconcile with son Robert not long before her death in 1882. Thanks #Simon&Schuster for allowing me this early peek at a complicated woman who lived in complicated times. As we all do, she had issues, some medical, some surely just the way she was, and was misunderstood and given little sympathy. What a contrast to the way the world embrace Jacqueline Kennedy after her husband's assassination by her side. Two very different women in very different times, that's for sure.
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