Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters by Jennifer ChiaveriniMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.0/5.0 - I have read more than 30 books by this author, her complete Elm Creek Quilts series and several of her historical fiction. This was told from an interesting perspective - that of Mary Todd Lincoln's sisters, primarily Elizabeth, the oldest and caretaker, Frances, the next oldest, and her younger sisters Ann and Emelie. While Elizabeth almost always sided with Mary, Frances and Ann saw a different side of her and were sometimes a bit more realistic. Mary was willful from a young age, knew what she wanted even as a child, which was to live in the White House. Sadly, it didn't bring her the joy she had hoped, as she lost two children and her husband there, and her third son a few years after. She was long estranged from her oldest son, and from her sisters, but always the family was there for her, especially in the end.
The structure of the book is such that each chapter is told from a different sister's point of view, and it jumps around a 50 year timeline. I understood why the author chose to do it that way, but honestly, I didn't really care for it.
Book 178 of 2020.
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