Jean baker mary todd lincoln

Let me preface this by saying I really give this book 3.5 stars. I think the author really worked at trying to make Mrs. Lincoln a likeable personality, and that's just not possible. Having said that, here is my review...

Page one and she's already accused of being a shrew and a termagant. I kept waiting for harpy.
By the age of seven, she had already suffered the following: the loss of family place to a first born son; the death of a infant brother; the loss of her middle name, Ann, to a new sister; and the acquirement of a stepmother after the death of her biological mother to puerperal fever. This is when my pity starts to set in. Mary Todd, whose father is extremely absent from her childhood, develops a hole, either in her soul or her heart, that she ventures to fill the remainder of her life. She was, however, very well educated for a female in the nineteenth century, studying history, arithmetic, geography, natural science, reading, writing, sewing, religion, and cooking. She also had a firm inclination to politics, which she fed by reading newspapers.
Her elder sisters moved to Springfield, IL around 1837 and she visited them, but for some reason never crossed paths with Abraham until about 1839, when they shared their first dance. Imagine it: she is short and round, he is tall and gawky, but he "wanted to dance with her in the worst way possible." Fun fact: she also danced with Stephen Douglas, who almost proposed. He was more her size-5'4" and 90 lbs.
Mary and Abraham have an on again off again relationship, culminating in a duel settled by the seconds at the last minute. Six weeks later they get married. Pregnant almost immediately she doesn't actually gain any domestic responsibilities until about a year after marriage. Mary is often criticized for driving away her servants, something she continued to do in the White House. She is a penny pinching spendthrift, using money saved that should have been used around the house on frivolous items and her wardrobe.
Lincoln is gone half of the year representing clients and sitting his government post, leaving Mary feeling neglected, lonely, and fearful. However she has high aspirations for the presidency, so she doesn't complain. Instead she becomes temperamental, pushy but persuasive, gaining Lincoln many supporters until he is finally elected in 1860.
As First Lady, she rapidly comes under fire for her behavior. She's ambitious, sensitive, and hostile, not to mention jealous if she is not the woman in the limelight. She could not tolerate any such criticism and begins holding grudges.
Within her first year she has surpassed her four year budget of $20,000 to redecorate the White House, although, this time in her defense, the mansion is riddled with threadbare carpeting, peeling and moldy wallpaper, and broken furniture, and there is no complete set of china. All of this would not have been a problem had it not coincided with the worst war to hit American soil, which cost $20 billion at its finish. By 1865 she owes over $10,000 for her wardrobe alone.
All is not negative, though. She receives a commendation for her visits to Union troops in hospital, offering companionship, and providing oranges to fight scurvy and donating liquor. The gardens have never been more lovely.
After Lincoln's assassination she is inconsolable, and has nowhere to go. At this point she also only has two sons remaining. She develops plans to pay her debts, which are quite calculated, but when not one comes to fruition, she refuses to admit her unpopularity. She is a covetous, independent, controlling woman who refuses to stay in the background and continues to make enemies in Washington.
She becomes a shopaholic to fill the void left by all the deaths she has suffered. I can't imagine her with credit cards. But this is something to which I can totally relate. While Lincoln was alive he never stopped admiring her looks, and professed his undying love for her to whomever was within earshot. Her need for love and attention returns.
She has a irreparable falling out with her eldest son, Robert, who attempts to control her money, which ironically leads her to say, "the love of money, is the root of all evil." I guess just not the love she has.
She dies really quite sick and alone in the world, but she brings her circumstances on herself, which by the end of the book, leaves me quite conflicted about me feelings about her. In some ways she is definitely a product of nurturing. I don't think she would have ever truly been happy unless Abraham had lived.