Shelf Control is a weekly meme created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. The idea of this meme is to create a post about a book on your shelf (print or electronic) that is waiting to be read. Because I use my library so much, I may also use my library ‘to be read’ shelf. I’m hoping this may help me to rediscover and finally read some of the books that have been waiting for their turn to be read for way too long!
Title: Abe and Molly
Author: Frederic Hunter
Genre: Historical Fiction - Presidents and First Ladies
Year Published: 2010
Length: ~260 pages + notes
Goodreads Rating: 4.09
Riffle Synopsis:
A novel with extensive historical notes about this true story. "A wonderful book" -- James M. McPherson, Historian and Pulitzer Prize winner for Battle Cry Of Freedom When Abraham Lincoln courted Mary Todd, rejection, poverty, lack of polish and background, all tried to deter him. He was a self-taught young lawyer, plagued with debts and raised in log cabins. She was of aristocratic background and highly educated. Everyone in Springfield, Illinois, thought them badly matched. Did they just get married and live happily ever after? No. Her family interfered, told Lincoln he was unworthy. Did he believe them? Well, he broke the engagement. Then he went into such a tailspin of depression that friends thought he might commit suicide. Her family refused to let Mary go to him. She had to seem unconcerned, her witty and vivacious self. They did not see one another for 18 months. Then they resumed meeting -but in secret. This secret courtship got Lincoln challenged to a duel. Not your sweetness and light path to marriage. Were they in love? Lots of controversy about that. In Abe and Molly Frederic Hunter provides the details. A special feature of this novel is a section with extensive notes about the historical sources for this story and why Hunter interpreted them as he did.
How I Got It: I found a copy on the sale shelf at the library and it was in pristene condition! (It still is, I’m sorry to say, because I haven’t yet made time to read it.
When I Got It: Oct 2014
Why I want to Read It: I’m an ‘Land of Lincoln’ girl so I am a little obsessed with everything Lincoln. (In fact, as i write this I am preparing to visit The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum tomorrow.) I know the basic facts of the marriage of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd from elementary school, and have picked up a lot more through my reading of Civil War era fiction, but I’m sure this book will tell me things I never knew. I really need to make time for it soon!
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