Irving Stone was famous for his historical novels, the best
known of which is The Agony and the
Ecstasy, about Michelangelo. The less-known Love Is Eternal, about the
marriage of Abraham and Mary Lincoln, is a curious entry in
Lincolnalia. Mary Lincoln, so often portrayed as a shrew and lunatic,
is seen sympathetically. Mary is the dominant figure, and Lincoln and
their marriage are viewed through her perspective.
The book opens in Lexington, Kentucky, where Mary Todd grew up in
a prosperous, slave-holding family. Her married sister Elizabeth
invites her to Springfield, Illinois, where Mary meets Abraham. The
story progresses through their courtship and marriage, Lincoln’s rise
on the national political stage, and finally the White House years
during the Civil War. They suffer through the death of two sons,
Lincoln’s depression, and Mary’s migraines. The novel ends a few weeks
after Lincoln’s death, when Mary leaves the White House with her
youngest son, Tad. The sad 17 years she had still to live aren’t
covered.
Historians can debate whether Mary Lincoln deserves the favorable
portrait. What’s undeniable is that she endured great heartbreak. In
the early years of her marriage, she was alone with her young sons for
extended periods when Lincoln rode the lawyer’s circuit in Illinois.
His melancholy did little for her loneliness when he was home. Only one
of her four sons survived her. She endured public attack, especially
from those who questioned her allegiance to the Union. She lost her
husband and three half-brothers who died for the Confederacy.
The aspect of Mary Todd Lincoln’s character on which historians and
novelists agree is that she was a well-educated, ambitious woman who
supported her husband’s political career. In Love Is Eternal, Mary is essential
to Lincoln’s achievement.
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