I wanted so badly to love this book. I wanted it so much, in fact, that when it wasn't moving quickly enough, I set it aside and read another book, only to come back a week later to finish.
It just wasn't for me.
It should have been for me, by all accounts. I have a lifelong obsession with our 16th president (he's clearly the sexiest of them all.) This is a fictional account of his courtship with Mary Todd and also a close friendship with a man named Joshua Speed. It's about early politics, his ascension to prominence and the woman who would become his wife. While history remembers Mary Todd Lincoln as a grieving, possibly insane woman, this book sets her up as a witty young woman, well-versed in the politics of the day.
This book is extremely well-written. In lesser hands, I probably wouldn't have made it past the first 50 pages. His writing and the overall story arc were just interesting enough to keep me going, but after the first half, I just kept willing myself to finish.
You just shouldn't have to work so hard, especially on a book you read in the summer.
Sorry, Abe. Nothing personal. You're still the most handsome of them all.
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