The House of Lincoln by Nancy Horan

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

1851 in Springfield, IL could be a terrifying time, depending on the color of your skin, your heritage, and your politics. While Illinois was a northern state, there was the constant threat of slave hunters prowling around, searching for the bounty they would earn for themselves if they tracked down runaways. In fact, having arrived into this country as a Portuguese refugee herself, Ana finds herself with her friend Cal, witnessing a frightening scene that she must keep to herself in order to protect those she has come to love and respect. This comes to help form her views as she moves forward through her life, becomes a nanny and cleaner for the Lincoln family and follows the rise and tragic fall of the most impactful presidents our nation has ever seen.

Told through the eyes of this young woman, we glimpse into the home of the Lincolns, seeing their experience of both personal and national tragedies. We view the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, who experienced loss after loss, and, understandably, struggled with her mental health because of it. Yet she still fought so hard to encourage her absent-minded but brilliant and kind husband to fight for what he felt was the best for the Black slave – emancipation. Through Ana, we see how he agonized, how he sought the argument, the magical words that would not only convince his enemies to join him, but how to bring the fractured country back together. Through Ana, we also view the backlash, so quick to happen, so easily sprung back. Even in the hometown of Abraham Lincoln, where he was beloved, or so one would think, there was an evil backlash of hatred.

Not only is this an important part of our history, providing details that one might not know, but it is frighteningly relevant to what is happening today. While we might have made some progress toward freedoms, there is much in the way of backsliding and backlash happening now as well. Not only from people in the streets, but it is being supported and legitimized by our Conservative legislators and the courts. The civil rights of marginalized people are being chipped away and the highest court in our land is jubilantly cementing this in. I fear it will take years to undo the damage they are doing now.

We are growing less and less the “land of the free and the home of the brave” our founders sought for us. Shame on those who are perpetrating this backlash (and the current conservative members of the Supreme Court). This is why it is so important to know what has happened in our past. So that we can do our best to prevent the extreme backsliding to this segregation, this hatred, this fear of the “other” for our future.

 

Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

This is a fictionized biography of Robert Louis Stevenson told through the life story of his wife, Fanny.  Louis and Fanny meet after Fanny has brought her family away from America to Europe to start a new life away from her philandering first husband.  They begin a very difficult and romantic life together, he overcoming his poor health and she overcoming her own personal tragedy.  They travel the world in search of climate that supports his health and it is clear that their experiences shape Louis’s writings.

The writing in this story is excellent, if a bit long.  It also appears to be well-researched, based on a number of books about the lives of both Louis and Fanny, as well as from their journals and the writings of their family members.  There are a number of colorful characters, but none more so than Louis himself.  He is both gregarious and private, both warm-hearted and self-indulgent — a true artist in every sense of the word.  Fanny’s character is a bit sadder, as she sacrifices a great deal to be the caretaker and the loving wife of such a great man.  (I wonder how they would fare if they were alive a century later, as Fanny seems to have suffered loneliness because of how independent she was for the time in which she lived.)

All in all, it makes for an appealing novel from which I felt I learned a great deal.

Loving Frank (migrated from Bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

This dramatic work of historical fiction is about the love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and one of his clients, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Both married with children, they were drawn together as they planned the house that he build for Mamah and her husband, and in spite of efforts to avoid an affair, they could not deny that they had fallen in love. The resultant relationship between the two was both poetic and tragic, as they both had to sacrifice most of what they treasured in order to have each other. As they strived for honesty in love, they had to endure the anger and the judgement of others.

Admittedly, I judged them/her too. I confess that as I sympathized with her yearning for true love and for the freedom she craved to be with the man she loved, I was angry with her too for leaving her children for months at a time. And when she missed them, I couldn’t help but think, “Well, what did you expect??” But she was also searching for her own identity, in order to see herself as an individual and not just a wife or a mother (or a mistress). For this, I respected her.

And of course there is the fun of learning more about the life of the most controversial and admired architect in the U.S. His struggle between his life and his art is apparent and is thread through the story as well.

The many layers and the many controversies make this book a solid read. Definitely a thumbs up!