Mary
by Janis Cooke Newman
Summary
An engrossing novel about Mary Todd Lincoln — one of history’s most misunderstood and enigmatic women.
Writing from Bellevue asylum–where the shrieks of the other inmates keep her awake at night–a famous widow can finally share the story of her life in her own words. From her tempestuous childhood in a slaveholding Southern family through the opium–clouded years after her husband’s death, we are let into the inner, intimate world of this brave and fascinating woman.
A dramatic tale filled with passion and depression, poverty and ridicule, infidelity and redemption, this is the unforgettable story of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Excerpt
MARY excerpt
(May 20) Mrs. Mary Lincoln admitted today—from Chicago—Age 56—Widow of Ex-President Lincoln—declared insane by the Cook County Court May 19—1875.
--Patient Progress Reports for Bellevue Place Sanitarium
(May 24) Mrs. Lincoln has seemed cheerful and is apparently contented—She took a long walk this morning—Sleeps well at night.
--Patient Progress Reports for Bellevue Place Sanitarium
I read today the account of my attempt at suicide. It was printed in the Chicago Inter Ocean—on the front page, where appear all the worst stories about me. This is not to say that Doctor Patterson allows the eighteen female lunatics under his care newspapers. Indeed, he believes all news of the outside world to be excessively agitating.
It is Doctor Patterson’s opinion that the tumult of late-nineteenth-century life is responsible for diseases of the brain. He explained to me during our first interview that female nerves—which are smaller than those of men—are more likely to be drained of their vitality by the chaos of modern life.
“Newspapers would only serve to overstimulate your already deranged mind,” he told me.
Our interview was conducted in Doctor Patterson’s office, which is fitted up like a lady’s boudoir, with velvet chaises and a great many needleworked pillows. A décor designed to make comfortable the doctor’s patients, all of whom are possessed of those female nerves.
I do not believe that my mind is deranged,” I said to the doctor. “Addled from too much chloral hydrate and laudanum, perhaps. Unsettled by the ten-year anniversary of my husband’s killing. But not deranged.”
The doctor pulled at his coarsely curled hair, which he wears quite full in the back, as if to give the impression of a very large brain. “Your bladder is hysterical,” he informed me.
“My bladder, I believe, was damaged by the birth of my last son.”
“You are also possessed of an irritated spine.”
“It is an arthritic condition which has come upon me since I passed fifty.”
“And you have engaged in the religious excitement of séance.”
“As has Queen Victoria and fully one-third of the gentlemen of my husband’s cabinet.”
I had perhaps sounded too definite in defense of my sanity, for Doctor Patterson raked at his unruly beard with impatience.
“How long shall I have to stay at Bellevue Place?” I asked, in a tone more meek.
Doctor Patterson relaxed back in his leather chair, the only masculine furniture in the room. “You should not dwell too much upon leaving,” he told me.
“But seeing an end to my time here will make the days more tolerable.”
I watched the doctor handle the paperweight he kept upon his desk, a dragonfly caught in amber—an object which feels cruel to me, put before ladies who have been committed here.
“You will remain at Bellevue Place,” said Doctor Patterson, “until I—and your son—determine that your reason has been restored.”
Reprinted by permission of MacAdam/Cage Publishers http://www.macadamcage.com
Reviews
“[A] vivid, mostly flattering account of [President Lincoln’s] once-notorious spouse”—Publishers Weekly
“I could not put Mary down…a very powerful novel”—Pat Schroeder, President of the Association of American Publishers
“An unforgettable account that will haunt readers long after they’ve closed the book”—Elaine Petrocelli, Book Passage
Author's Biography
Janis Cooke Newman is the author of the memoir The Russian Word for Snow. Her travel writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Salon, and the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in Northern California where she teaches writing. Mary is her first novel.