Review: Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Publication date: 1/15/2013
Pages: 352
How Acquired: Through Net Galley
Overview: New York Times bestselling author Jennifer
Chiaverini illuminates the extraordinary friendship between Mary Todd Lincoln
and Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, a former slave who won her freedom by the skill of
her needle, and the friendship of the First Lady by her devotion. In Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, novelist
Jennifer Chiaverini presents a stunning account of the friendship that
blossomed between Mary Todd Lincoln and her seamstress, Elizabeth “Lizzie”
Keckley, a former slave who gained her professional reputation in Washington,
D.C. by outfitting the city’s elite. Keckley made history by sewing for First
Lady Mary Todd Lincoln within the White House, a trusted witness to many
private moments between the President and his wife, two of the most compelling
figures in American history. In this impeccably researched, engrossing novel,
Chiaverini brings history to life in rich, moving style.
My thoughts: I was very excited to read this novel when I
first heard about it, it seemed especially fortuitous since Gloria Reuben plays
Elizabeth in the new film Lincoln. I
have written about Elizabeth Keckley and her friendship with Mary Todd Lincoln
before, and I was interested to read a fictional interpretation of Elizabeth’s
life. The book opens up right before the
start of the Civil War. Elizabeth
Keckley is a modiste who spent years working to buy her and her son’s
freedom. Now established in Washington
City (present day Washington, D.C.), she has made a name for herself as a
dressmaker for both Northerners and Southerners alike, one of her best patrons
is Varina Davis, the wife of Senator Jefferson Davis (soon to be the President
and First Lady of the Confederacy). When
Lincoln is elected, another patron arranges for Elizabeth to meet the new First
Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. To be chosen as
the modiste for the new First Lady would be the ultimate coup for any
dressmaker, white or black. Elizabeth is
chosen and is soon privy to the innermost workings of the Lincoln White House. We
see through Elizabeth’s eyes Mrs. Lincoln’s reckless spending and mood swings,
President Lincoln’s death, and his widow’s subsequent penury.
There were many things that I liked about this novel. Jennifer
Chiaverini’s characterization of the relationship between Mary Todd and Elizabeth
is nuanced, revealing a friendship that is at times uneven and fraught with
class and racial distinctions, but also warm and protective (on Elizabeth's part). In a very poignant moment, Mrs. Lincoln calls Elizabeth her best friend. In Chiaverini’s hands, Mary is not quite the
Satanic Majesty that she is called by one of the staff, but a woman who if not
bi-polar clearly has emotional issues.
Unhappy at being shut out of the President’s political life and having
her view dismissed, Mary seeks happiness through endless shopping. While reading the novel, I was reminded of
the scurrilous gossip aimed at Marie Antoinette and how she sublimated her
unhappiness through partying and shopping.
Mary becomes dependent on Elizabeth whose own kindness eventually
becomes a straightjacket in a way. Elizabeth becomes more than just a modiste to Mary;
she also arranges her hair, helps her dress, cares for her children at times
and becomes her confidante.
The book is not without its problems; at times the book gets
bogged down through too much telling and not enough showing. There are endless
pages devoted to telling what is going on with the war, which would be
interesting if this were a history book instead of a novel. The book comes alive when the war hits home
for the characters, Robert Todd Lincoln wanting to enlist, Elizabeth’s friends
fleeing from the disaster that was the first battle of Bull Run. Instead of giving us vibrant scenes of
Elizabeth’s trip with Mary Todd Lincoln to New York and Boston during the war,
where she attempts to raise money for the Contraband Relief Association, we are
told about it. Another wasted opportunity occurs later in the
novel when Elizabeth meets the abolitionist Frederick Douglass for the first
time. Again we are kept at a distance
from the action, instead of plunged right into it. Elizabeth is also curiously passive at that
times but again she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. As the reader, I wanted Elizabeth to stand up
for herself more, to not let Mrs. Lincoln take advantage of her friendship the
way that she does, but I had to remember that this was a different time and
Elizabeth also owed Mrs. Lincoln a great deal as well. Her business as a
modiste takes off because she worked for the First Lady.
Once Mrs. Lincoln is widowed, the book really moves along as
Elizabeth is given the task of helping the former First Lady sell her clothes
and jewels to raise money, and then decides to write her memoirs. At this point, we get to know a little bit
more about Elizabeth and less about Mary.
Chiaverini also does a wonderful job at detailing the hardships that
Elizabeth must go through during her stay in New York, having to move to a room
in the attic of a hotel because they wouldn’t let her have a regular room,
being forced to eat in the servants’ hall. It’s these little details of what
life was like for a colored woman in post-Civil War America that really make
the book come alive. Although I found
the portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln balanced and compelling, my real interest was
in Elizabeth, her thoughts and feelings about the war, and her position in
society. One of the best sections of
the novel occurs when Elizabeth goes to visit the family that once owned her. In the end, that old adage, no good deed goes
unpunished comes into play. Elizabeth’s
good intentions come to bite her in the butt.
Mrs. Lincoln cuts off her friendship once Elizabeth’s memoir is published,
and the public chastises her for her revelations. In the end, it is brought home to Elizabeth
that no matter how far she has come; there will always be those who look down
on her because of her color and want to put her in her place.
Despite my problems with the novel, I was intrigued enough that
I’m looking forward to reading Chiaverini’s next novel about the Civil War spy
Elizabeth van Lew.
My verdict: Compelling account of the friendship between
Elizabeth Keckley and Mrs. Lincoln. Well
worth reading for a glimpse into the inner workings of the White House during
the Civil War.
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