Janis Cooke Newman

(May 20th)
Mrs Mary Lincoln admitted today – from Chicago – Age 56 – Widow of ex-President Lincoln – declared insane by the Cook County Court May 19th – 1875.

Patient Progress Reports for Bellevue Place Sanatorium.

Incarcerated in an insane asylum after committal proceedings instigated by her own son, Mary Lincoln resolves to tell her own story in order to preserve and to prove her own sanity. Details of her first encounters with Abraham Lincoln, their courtship, marriage and troubled relationship are interspersed with disturbing accounts of the ‘treatment’ and behaviour of the women around her as she fights to be released from the sanatorium.

Reviews

‘I could not put [Mrs Lincoln] down and as I read it, I wept. I cannot recommend a book more… a very powerful novel.’ Pat Schroeder, President of the Association of American Publishers

‘…one of those rare books that turns the reader into an admiring fan of both the author and her subject. You feel a compulsion to urge others to read it…Newman gives Mary a riveting voice.’ USA Today

‘… immensely readable, close-to-life story of America’s best known and most controversial First Lady. Sensitive to the facts as well as graced by realistic dialogue and an empathetic portrayal of places and people, including Abraham Lincoln, Mary finally tells her own story. This is historical fiction at its best.’ Jean H. Baker, author of Mary Lincoln: A Biography