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Book Review of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker
junie avatar reviewed on + 630 more book reviews


This was an interesting story about Elizabeth Keckley, a slave who bought freedom for herself and her son and became a well known dressmaker for the Washington elite. She soon became the exclusive dressmaker and good friend to Mary Tod Lincoln, who is portrayed as a self-centered, proud, narcissistic and pathetic woman.

Mrs. Lincoln never forgave her good friend for writing a book about her days in the White House and didn't speak to her again. It sadly portrayed a devastated Elizabeth, who went from a thriving dressmaking business and ended up in the Home For Destitute Colored Women and Children in her 80's.

In my opinion, the book had too much military history of the Civil War that was boring to me and I did skim a lot. But the story of Mrs. Lincoln was fascinating.