Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

 I loved this book!  The beginning was so interesting and fascinating.  I thought it was so interesting to read this during an election year and comparing this year's election with one long gone by. I thought the beginning of this book was great, in the middle it started to feel really slow and drug on.  I had a hard time wanting to keep reading but then in the end it gets really interesting again and I loved the ending so, so much.  I have always loved Abraham Lincoln and reading this book made me love him even more. Elizabeth Keckley was a real person and bought her freedom and moved to Washington where she began sewing dresses for the women there.  She became Mrs. Lincoln's "modiste" (which includes so much more than just sewing her dresses) and was a good friend to her. It was heartbreaking to learn all of the history of Mary Todd Lincoln and there were some scandals that happened because of some of her poor choices. Elizabeth always supported her and tried to help her.  When she wrote a memoir of her life, there were some things that happened (according to this novel, which I don't know if it is all true) that caused Mrs. Lincoln to push Elizabeth away as a friend.  I thought this was the most heartbreaking thing of all...she wrote it trying to help Mrs. Lincoln and instead caused even more problems.  The end told of how Elizabeth tried so many times to reconcile the friendship with Mrs. Lincoln but ultimately Mrs. Lincoln died before she could.  The end was filled with hope though.  I loved that she realized her legacy was so much more than just the dresses she had sewn or who she had sewn them for but was a sum total of all the things she had done and even how she had paved the way for other African Americans.  The last sentence reads "she was ready to lay down her burdens and rest, and perhaps to find in heaven the reunion and reconciliation that had eluded her on earth." I loved that so, so much!  I have come to the realization lately that dying won't be a bad thing...not that I want to die!  But I will be so happy to be reunited with those I love who are in heaven. I also have been learning the importance of our relationships with people.  It is one of the only things that can last and we can take with us when we die. They are so important, one of the great commandments is to "love they neighbor as theyself" and how awful would it be to not treat people well and then to see them after this life and have regrets. Anyway I really enjoyed many aspects of this book, learning a little more about politics which I know almost nothing about, learning more about Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln and all the historical aspects that were in this book.  Also the inspirational message I felt it conveyed.  This is not an action book by any means, so if you're looking for that this wouldn't be the book for you, but I highly recommend it!