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45th out of 110 books
—
101 voters
Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography
"Rich with superb insights and wonderful anecdotes about 19th-century family and domestic life, it is a complex and moving character study of a woman tragically out of step with her time and place".--Chicago Tribune. Photos.
Paperback, 429 pages
Published
April 1st 1989
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1987)
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The Lincolns are not even in the White House yet and I am annoyed with this author. She tends to belittles Mary Lincoln often. I realize MTL is not a woman loved by history, but I find the author's assertion that MTL's political interests "displayed a quirky feminism located not in principle but in the psychological necessity to be somebody" o be dismissive. MTL was very well educated -- she had 12 years of formal schooling -- maybe her interest in politics was born of a working mind in need of...more
My problems with this book are legion, but I'll highlight just a few.
First, Baker's perspective is limited, as she clearly is writing a "feminist" history of Mary Todd Lincoln, and her diatribes become both tiresome and tortured. Her "logic" goes like this: 19th century society treated women badly because they were women. Mary Todd Lincoln lived in the 19th century. She was treated badly. Therefore, she was treated badly because she was a woman. That thinking is far too simplistic, but it is at...more
First, Baker's perspective is limited, as she clearly is writing a "feminist" history of Mary Todd Lincoln, and her diatribes become both tiresome and tortured. Her "logic" goes like this: 19th century society treated women badly because they were women. Mary Todd Lincoln lived in the 19th century. She was treated badly. Therefore, she was treated badly because she was a woman. That thinking is far too simplistic, but it is at...more
This is an interesting examination of a very misunderstood former first lady. Jean Baker provides a sympathetic look at Mary Todd Lincoln as a bright, educated upper-class young woman from Lexington, Kentucky who struggles with much loss over the years and finally must defend her sanity and deal with the strained relationship with her only surviving son. Politics were a significant part of the Lincoln marriage and Mary Todd Lincoln's challenges with her role as first lady is a particularly fasci...more
This is the first book I've ever read about Mary Todd. I found the history fascinating and I now realize what a difficult life Mary really had.
Sep 08, 2011
Doug Nagel
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone who enjoys a good biography and American history
This was an excellent biography. Jean Baker provides a thorough psycho-social profile of Mary Todd Lincoln, highlighting the early family influences and abandonments that shaped her character, ambition and well-documented idiosyncracies. Tracing her life from her Lexington, Kentucky roots, Baker emphasizes her unusual interest in politics, Mary Todd's academic achievements at a time when education for women was denigrated and her desire to marry someone who would elevate her social standing in t...more
Mary Todd Lincoln was a complex woman, too often dismissed as "insane" because she was institutionalized by her one surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, though she only spent three months at a sanitarium. Her son's reasons for institutionalizing her included her belief in mediums who could contact her dead husband and children, and her incessant buying of needless items. Of course, in modern times, this would not be nearly enough to institutionalize anyone, yet it was a fairly common thing in the...more
I read a lot about Mary Lincoln, and I believe that Baker and Clinton have written the best, popular biographies of this very complex woman.
Baker's prose style is attractive and readable, so that the reader will not get bogged down by a too-academic approach. Baker uses lots of verified stories from Mrs. Lincoln's letters, so I feel she has spent time trying to get details that will keep the reader interested.
As with most authors, Baker can't quite keep from inserting her own personal views in...more
Baker's prose style is attractive and readable, so that the reader will not get bogged down by a too-academic approach. Baker uses lots of verified stories from Mrs. Lincoln's letters, so I feel she has spent time trying to get details that will keep the reader interested.
As with most authors, Baker can't quite keep from inserting her own personal views in...more
I was inspired to learn more about Mary Todd Lincoln after watching the new Spielberg movie "Lincoln" (I also want to learn more about Thaddeus Stevens).
This biography is extremely readable (more readable imho than the acclaimed book the movie was based on). I LOVE non-fiction that reads like fiction and this almost qualifies.
Baker provides a balanced portrait of Mary. She's neither heroine nor villain. She is portrayed as intelligent, emotional, ambitious and insecure. Baker believes that Mar...more
This biography is extremely readable (more readable imho than the acclaimed book the movie was based on). I LOVE non-fiction that reads like fiction and this almost qualifies.
Baker provides a balanced portrait of Mary. She's neither heroine nor villain. She is portrayed as intelligent, emotional, ambitious and insecure. Baker believes that Mar...more
While history has no doubt maligned MTL, Baker is very symphathetic to this infamous widow. It's very rare to read much positive information on Mary. I think she made plenty of enemies who took revenge through various accounts. While Baker attempts to even the score, I think she may have gone too far. She justifies almost everything Mary does. She sees her in a very sympathetic light and fails to properly analyze her. She presents a very well researched account of Mary's life. It is her own pers...more
Really interesting book about a fascinating woman. I didn't know much about her, other than rumors of her being troubled. My only bone to pick with the book is the tirade the author goes on about Mary's son Robert having her institutionalized. Granted, by today's standards Mary would seem eccentric, not mentally ill, but in those days, it might have seemed quite logical. Plus he had issues of his own to deal with--father being assassinated, siblings dying young of terrible diseases, mother spend...more
An honest look at a woman who is often portrayed unsymphathetically but we learn there are 2 sides to every story.
This is a more sympathetic look at the life of Mary Todd Lincoln. A marked contrast between Mary Lincoln and Jackie Kennedy comes to mind since I read the conversations with Jackie Kennedy (1964) where Jackie did not discuss politics and such with Kennedy but attempted to maintain an oasis of relaxation which is how she viewed the role of a wife in the 60s. Ironically enough, this role of submission/submersion into background was the expected role of the Victorian wife of the 1840's forward. Mar...more
I expected to be immediately drawn into this book, and was disappointed. The vast majority is spent on a recitation of the facts of Mary Lincoln's life, with little critical analysis. Once she reaches the final two chapters, Baker finally takes her stand on Mary Lincoln, and it is wonderful. I only wish that she had used the same depth of her insight throughout. Mary Lincoln's life was tragic from start to end, but she was also exceedingly bright and knowledgeable about politics - although she s...more
I thought the book was a real tour de force in the biography writing genre. Baker's thesis is that in childhood, the maternally orphaned Mary Lincoln developed a narcissistic personality in response to being rejected by her stepmother who wanted the husband's first family to just go away. Mary needed and didn't get normal attention so she found other means to get what she needed. Admittedly narcissism is a "broken" strategy for solving emotional problems, a childish strategy. The original proble...more
I have not heard much of anything about Mary Todd Lincoln and the very little that I have heard about her crazy spending habits and that she was insane didn't appeal to me to read about her. After reading this book, I am amazed at the strength she did have in spite of all the tragedies she had in her life, long before Lincoln was killed. She was a strong and outspoken woman, which turned off a lot of the men in her husband's political circles. Not one of them helped her after he died with the fi...more
Jun 20, 2011
Alan Jacobs
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
hisotyr buffs; those interested in the role of women in mid-19th cetury America
One of the finest biographies I've ever read. Totally changed my perception of Mary Todd Lincoln. The author is not an apologist for Mrs. Lincoln: she lays out the details of all her notorious extravagances, and recounts every one of her public outbursts. However, the author always puts Mrs. Lincoln's utterances extravagances in the context of how Mary became an educated woman at a time when most women only had a rudimentary education, and then how she never received the respect, or even the cor...more
A great look into a complicated life of a woman who had very delicate emotions. A lady who had so much loss in her life and who tried to bear with it as best as she knew how, while trying to convince people she was not insane but just very emotional. There is nothing so sad as to see her own son dislike his own parents and want to hide his mother away for fear of embarassment to himself.
Touching story of love, loss and redemption of oneself.
Touching story of love, loss and redemption of oneself.
I bought this book in Salem, where Mary and Abe lived before going to the White House. It was recommended to me by the docent as the best book about MTL. When I started to chuckle a little about the idiosyncrasies of MTL, I was chastened by the docent's face. MTL is revered in Salem. I kind of think that it is somehow sweet justice that she is so respected and loved there.
This detailed bigraphy of mary Todd Lincoln takes us to the travails of her life from the beginning. I found much of it very interesting but that it moved very slowly. It was obviously well researched , and gave a multitude of specific situations and times in her life in great detail which truly made her unusual patterns of life a bit more understandable. There is no doubt she was a "high maintenance" female that always seemed to put herself in a no win position by constantly going against the t...more
Amazing story I thought I already knew. Detailed and informative and filled with personal
details and historical details that make it a very interesting read. The first surprise
is the cover photo. She's actually quite pretty isn't she? And she was intelligent and
well read-and other things. Well worth the time.
details and historical details that make it a very interesting read. The first surprise
is the cover photo. She's actually quite pretty isn't she? And she was intelligent and
well read-and other things. Well worth the time.
The author writes as if the reader has the wrong opinion of Mary Lincoln. I didn't have an opinion or know much about Mary Lincoln so found the slant insulting. The author wouldn't make a good lawyer as the case for Mary Lincoln was cumbersome and tough reading. The facts were interesting enough.
fairly interesting for a dry biography of someone in whom I don't have an abiding interest. She did have a very difficult life after Lincoln's assassination, but brought on a lot of the problems on herself. She didn't fit into the mold of what a mid-nineteenth century woman should be.
A valuable picture of a much maligned woman. Not a hagiography but certainly a corrective. Really shows what a cultured intelligent woman she was. It also lays out how much tragedy she endured. I really enjoyed it and I learned something about Lincoln from this book.
Mary Todd Lincoln has always been an enigma to me. I've vacillate between thinking that she was down right crazy (as her son Robert apparently thought) and that she was simply a woman with a major personality disorder - manifested throughout her life by her bizarre and eratic behavior. Whichever the case, she was most definitely a tragic figure - one who also played a key role in the life of one of our most admired presidents. If you have an interest in her, it's definitely worth the read.
Pair this with the novel, Mary, by Janice Newman, for a really thought-provoking study of Mrs. Lincoln, as well as what society was like in the 19th century.
I found it heart-breaking that her son never accepted her. Mary Lincoln's story is a tragic one, and fascinating.
I found it heart-breaking that her son never accepted her. Mary Lincoln's story is a tragic one, and fascinating.
The end of the book was really good. If the entire book had been writen as the last 25% of the book, I would rate this book as "like". However, the first 75% of the book provided too much detail on non-essential details of Mary Todd Lincoln's life.
I'd like to think there was more mentally wrong with Robert Todd Lincoln (eldest son) than Mary Todd Lincoln. She may have been eccentric and outspoken but not lunatic. What in the world was the cause of all HIS issues, I wonder?
Excellent research support for the book I am writing. Occasionally it was difficult to keep the information from the book in chronological order, but overall it was interesting to know more about Abe Lincoln's often-misunderstood wife.
What a sad life. MTL was not crazy...just misunderstood. Her life began with the horrible loss of her mother. The remainder of her life was spent with the horrible reality of the loss of three sons under the age of 20 (two of them not even making it to their pre-teen years), plus the tragic loss of her husband to an assassin, and the loss of love for her eldest and only surviving son Robert who had her committed to an asylum. Self imposed exile in France was followed by the loss of her eyesight,...more
This is a very readable book about Abe Lincoln's wife and her tortured life. Today we have drugs that would help her with her fears and depression, but in the 1800's, there was no sympathy for her and the many issues she faced. This book was written with sympathy and understanding.
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