[Bayard is] extraordinarily gifted at blending provocative fiction with history ... The details of their courtship are lovely to read, but Lincoln’s time with Speed is much more riveting ... arresting, yet it never teeters toward debunking or proving anything ... Bayard offers readers no absolutes. At book’s end, who’s courting Lincoln remains an enticing mystery.
With wit and charm that only Louis Bayard can deliver, Courting Mr. Lincoln transports readers to 19th-century Springfield ... Courting Mr. Lincoln oscillates between the voices of Mary and Speed, brilliantly connecting the audience with these two individuals ... This is a love triangle capable of stealing the hearts of readers ... Bayard's masterful command of language enchants and thrills ... He offers more reasons to love one of the most admired presidents in U.S. history and proves yet again why he himself is one of the nation's greatest literary gems.
...a rich, fascinating and romantic union of fact and imagination about young Lincoln, the woman he would marry and his beloved best friend ... intimate, warm and, above all, compassionate. Bayard is concerned with the possibilities of the human heart, and he presents an enigmatic Lincoln seen — and loved — from two other points of a romantic triangle ... Bayard is the perfect writer to re-imagine Lincoln’s private life ... perhaps the greatest triumph of Courting Mr. Lincoln is how effectively Bayard creates suspense, even when we know how the story ends.
...thoroughly researched and thrillingly plotted ... Where history has been less than kind to Abraham Lincoln’s widow, Bayard opens a new page on her life ... Filled with rich historical detail and compulsively readable ... Fans of historical fiction will be up late into the night to uncover the next chapter of this fascinating time in history.
Those who have been privileged to read the terrific historical mystery series by Jonathan F. Putnam will be well-versed in the relationship between young Abraham Lincoln and his best friend, Joshua Speed, as they are the central characters in these books ... Bayard's descriptions of the characters and the dialogue he creates are delightful .... What Bayard has accomplished is to take popular figures in U.S. history and not only make them more real --- if that is possible --- but humanize them to a level where we all can relate to them. Courting Mr. Lincoln is engaging because Bayard has such a fine way with words. It is not mere machinations but actual human encounters and conversations complete with the awkwardness and foibles that all of us experience in our own lives. The result is a triumph of a novel and an unforgettable read that is a true page turner.
A house divided against itself cannot stand, Abraham Lincoln warned us. But a book divided against itself stands up quite nicely in Louis Bayard’s wonderful Courting Mr. Lincoln ... The structure is suspenseful and revealing of the contrasting ways in which two vivid characters see the object of their affection ... Mary Todd...claims center stage ... Stubborn and occasionally impolitic, Bayard’s version of Mary resembles one of Jane Austen’s spirited heroines ... it’s a tribute to Bayard’s entertaining novel that he has imagined a love story for Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln that embroiders the truth but that also fits perfectly with what we know about these very famous figures.
...it turns out that we needed another book about Lincoln. This one. In Courting Mr. Lincoln, Louis Bayard, an accomplished historical novelist, breathes life into the massive cultural icon whom we know so well, but really don’t have much of a clue about ... Nothing is easy for these characters...But they are real and powerful and will stick in your head when you’re done ... Read the book. You’ll thank me.
The story is tenderly told ... until now I’ve never thought about Abraham Lincoln’s mighty thighs, even when contemplating his giant likeness in Washington, but the topic does come up ... Bayard dissects both Mary and Joshua, in several chapters devoted to each, so we get to know them ... an engaging portrayal.
Louis Bayard dramatically re-creates the months after Abraham Lincoln’s 1840 winter arrival in Springfield with delicious detail and diligent diplomacy ... Bayard offers an insider's view ... Bayard does an exceptional job of keeping readers engrossed as he weaves fact and fiction in this intriguing tale of intimacy between Lincoln and his two closest confidantes.
Inserting Joshua, a real-life friend from Lincoln’s Springfield days, adds dimension to a familiar story and, along with a richly imagined setting and complex characters, makes this a worthy addition to the fiction-about-Lincoln bookshelf.
There are no villains in this acute and compassionate portrait ... The author commendably refrains from imposing 21st-century sexual mores on the Lincoln-Speed relationship, profoundly loving but not physical in Bayard’s depiction ... Not a lot of action, but in Bayard’s skilled hands, three complicated people groping toward a new phase in their lives is all the plot you need.
...[a] delightful embellishment of American history ... Readers will delight in Joshua and Mary, who provide unique reflections on a man who is deeply troubled about the path his country is on ... This charming love story delicately reveals the emotional roller coaster of two inexperienced adults traversing the unknown realm of love while trying to meet the demands and expectations of society.
