Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters

Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2021
Pages: 368
Rating: Recommend 

Synopsis: In May 1875, Elizabeth Todd Edwards reels from news that her younger sister Mary, former First Lady and widow of President Abraham Lincoln, has attempted suicide.

Mary's shocking act followed legal proceedings arranged by her eldest and only surviving son that declared her legally insane. Although they have long been estranged, Elizabeth knows Mary's tenuous mental health has deteriorated through decades of trauma and loss. Yet is her suicide attempt the impulse of a deranged mind, or the desperate act of a sane woman terrified to be committed to an asylum? And - if her sisters can put past grievances aside - is their love powerful enough to save her?

Maternal Elizabeth, peacemaker Frances, envious Ann, and much adored Emilie had always turned to one another in times of joy and heartache, first as children, and later as young wives and mothers. But when Civil War erupted, the conflict that divided a nation shattered their family. The Todd sister's fates were bound to their husband's choices as some joined the Lincoln administration, others the Confederate Army.

Now, though discord and tragedy have strained their bonds, Elizabeth knows they must come together to help Mary in her most desperate hour.

Review: This is my second Jennifer Chiaverini novel this month. I'm trying to play catch up since she has become a prolific author and her subjects interest me.

My husband and I took our children to Springfield, Illinois a few years ago to visit Abraham Lincoln's Presidential Library and Home. Being a history nerd, I remember a lot of the places mentioned in the novel, most notably Lincoln's home which we toured, and Elizabeth Todd Edwards' home which we saw. These experiences made the novel come to life.

Later in the novel, there is much discussion about Mary Todd Lincoln's afflictions and her subsequent stay at an asylum. As I was reading, I wondered what a doctor in the 21st century would diagnosis. As it turns out, she may have had something called pernicious anemia, which you could read about here. Today it is treatable and certainly wouldn't upend someone's life the way it did Mary's.

While this novel reads a lot like a non-fiction biography instead of a historical fiction novel, I can't discredit the insight into Mary Todd Lincoln's family and background. It's an interesting read. 

Other Jennifer Chiaverini Novels 
Canary Girls
Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule
Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker
Switchboard Soldiers

The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America

Author: Kostya Kennedy
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2025
Pages: 304
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: On April 18, 1775, a Boston-based silversmith, engraver, and anti-British political operative named Paul Revere set out on a borrowed horse to fulfill a dangerous but crucial mission: to alert American colonists of advancing British troops, which would seek to crush their nascent revolt.

Revere was not the only rider that night, and indeed, he had completed at least 18 previous rides across New England and other colonies, disseminating intelligence about British movements. But this ride was like no other, and its consequences in the months and years to come - as the American Revolution morphed from isolated skirmishes to a full-fledged war - became one of our founding legends.

Review: I have never in my life been bored with the history, let alone with the Revolutionary War. However, this book changed all that. It was difficult to get engaged, but I hung in there thinking the chapter on "the ride" itself would be pulse pounding and exciting. I was wrong.

I did enjoy the chapter about William Dawes. He was an entertaining character who isn't given much notice in history books or novels about the war.

As another reviewer on Goodreads said, this was a 20 page term paper dragged out for 200 pages. 

Atmosphere

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2025
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Francis. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA's Space Shuttle Program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston's Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilots Hank Redmond and John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.

As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.

Review: I chose this novel because it's Taylor Jenkins Reid, but I have to admit, space does not excite me. That said, tennis never excited me either, but Carrie Soto is Back was excellent. This was somewhere between The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo and Carrie Soto is Back. I liked it, but didn't love it.

Other Taylor Jenkins Reid Novels
Carrie Soto is Back
Daisy Jones and The Six
Malibu Rising
Maybe in Another Life
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Switchboard Soldiers

Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2023
Pages: 464
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: In June 1917, General John Pershing arrived in France to establish American forces in Europe. He immediately found himself unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed telephone operators who could swiftly and accurately connect multiple calls, speak fluent French and English, remain steady under fire, and be utterly discreet, since the calls often conveyed classified information.

At the time, nearly all well-trained American telephone operators were women - but women were not permitted to enlist, or even to vote in most states. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army Signal Corps promptly began recruiting them.

More than 7,600 women responded, including Grace Banker of New Jersey, a switchboard operator with AT&T and an alumna of Barnard College, Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman and aspiring opera singer, and Valerie DeSmedt, a twenty-year-old Pacific Telephone operator from Los Angeles, determined to strike a blow for her native Belgium.

They were among the first women sworn into the U.S. Army under the Articles of War. The male soldiers they had replaced had needed one minute to connect each call. The switchboard soldiers could do it in 10 seconds.

Deployed throughout France, including near the front lines, the operators endured hardships and risked death or injury from gunfire, bombardments, and the Spanish Flue. Not all of them would survive.

The women of the U.S. Army Signal Corps served with honor and played an essential role in achieving the Allied victory. Their story has never been the focus of a novel. . .until now.

Review: Sometimes when reading historical fiction, it's difficult to know what is fact and what is fiction. Grace Banker was a real person and kept a war time journal. She is mentioned on the World War I Museum website (fun fact, a few years ago my husband and I took our children to this museum in Kansas City, Missouri). She also has a Wikipedia page. The other two prominently featured characters in this novel, Marie and Valerie, are fictional ladies.

This book was so good that these characters lived in my head, and I found it difficult to concentrate on other books. This was a problem because I only had this as an audio version, and for me that means, I only listen when I drive (and only when I'm by myself). It took most of June and into July to finish.

Other Jennifer Chiaverini Novels
Canary Girls
Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule
Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker
Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters