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.
Freedwoman Elizabeth Keckley made her professional reputation in Washington, DC, making dresses for the city's elite, among them Mrs. Jefferson Davis and Mrs. Robert E. Lee. She made history by sewing for First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln within the White House, and she was a trusted witness to many private moments between the president and his wife, two of the most compelling figures in American history.
In March 1861, Mrs. Lincoln chose Keckley from among a number of applicants to be her personal modiste, responsible not only for creating the First Lady's gowns but also for dressing Mrs. Lincoln in the beautiful attire Keckley had fashioned. The relationship between the two women quickly evolved as Keckley was drawn into the intimate life of the Lincoln family, supporting Mary Todd Lincoln in the loss of another son and then of her husband from the assassination that stunned the nation and the world.
Keckley saved scraps from the dozens of gowns she made for Mrs. Lincoln, eventually piecing together a tribute known as the Mary Todd Lincoln Quilt. She also saved memories, which she fashioned into a book, Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. Upon its publication, Keckley's memoir created a scandal that compelled Mary Todd Lincoln to sever all ties with her, but more recently, Keckley's story has languished in the archives. In this impeccably researched, engrossing novel, Jennifer Chiaverini brings history to life with a rich, moving style.
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