REVIEW
All's fair in love in war. This adage came to mind when reading The First Lady and the Rebel by Susan Higginbotham. Mary Todd Lincoln and Emily Todd Helm are sisters and are on opposite sides of the Civil War. The narration shifts between the two sisters, which adds an interesting depth to the book. They are loyal to their husbands, and we learn about how they met their spouses and how they made their choices that put them at opposing sides. This is a humanizing look at the war between the states. Masterfully written and compelling.

AUTHOR
SUSAN HIGGINBOTHAM is the author of six historical novels. The Traitor's Wife, her first novel, is the winner of ForeWord Magazine's 2005 Silver Award for historical fiction and is a Gold Medalist, Historical/Military Fiction, in the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards. She writes her own historical fiction blog and is a contributor to the blog Yesterday Revisited. Higginbotham has worked as an editor and an attorney, and lives in North Carolina with her family.

A good story of 2 sisters in the middle of a famous part of U.S history on opposite sides with different perspectives and personalities. I really enjoyed reading this especially given all the novels on Eliza Hamilton, it is nice to read about other women in U.S. history

We all know of Abraham Lincoln, but how well do you know the history of his wife Mary Todd Lincoln and their personal relationship and journey to presidency? 'The First Lady and the Rebel' tells the story of Mary Todd Lincoln and her younger sister Emily Todd Helm. Higginbotham begins with Mary Todd and Lincoln's meeting and subsequent journey to marriage. Interesting to see the more personal side and internal struggles the Lincolns had through their early years, the presidency and Civil War. As well as the impact to families who find themselves on opposing sides.

This is a story about Mary Todd Lincoln and her half-sister, Emily. Mary, of course, is for the Union while her sister is a Confederate. It was interesting to see how these two sisters handled the Civil War. I really enjoyed this book. I would have liked for this story to continue a little but after the death of Lincoln.

This is a story of two sisters: Mary Todd Lincoln and Emily Todd Helm. Both women chose to be loyal to their husbands. Abraham Lincoln stood for the rights of humanity. Benjamin Helm decided to be loyal to the South.

1839: Mary Todd lives in Lexington, Kentucky. She visits her sister Elizabeth in Springfield, Illinois, where she meets Abraham Lincoln. She finds him fascinating from the first glance. As a short person, she never cared for tall men, but he is certainly worth tipping the head up. “It was not handsome face by any means, but after years of enduring the good-looking and vacuous young men of Lexington, Mary had concluded long ago that handsomeness was overrated. This man had character in his face, character and intelligence. She had never seen the like.”

“With her habit of saying what she thought and her unladylike interest in politics,” resulted in her preferring men of the North rather than the South.

Emily Todd not able to meet a man of her liking in Springfield, returns to Lexington. In Frankfort, at the first ball of the season, she meets Benjamin Hardin Helm, a new legislator.

February, 1861: The Lincolns are moving to the White House. As President, Abraham quickly becomes a rare trait, listening to all sides of an issue.

Emily’s husband gets an offer of the paymaster’s position by the President, but he declines. Instead, he decides to be loyal to the South, not leaving his wife any choice.

Set against the Civil War, weaving many battles fought, but with details not overwhelming the story; bringing the effects of the war, not only the casualties, but also the unpreparedness to handle the large number of wounded soldiers; and the tragedy of the families being split between the North and the South, resulting in reading about losses of their relatives from the newspaper instead of each other.

Narrated between two sisters, adding humor to tragedy, in the process creating a touching portrait of two sisters divided by the Civil War.

Informative story, beautifully executed through action, with engaging dialogue moving the story forward. Not a line of stagnation. Superbly written.

First Lady and the Rebels tells the story of two sisters torn apart from Civil War. While I love reading about Mary’s story, her story is well-documented so there was nothing new in this retelling. The story I was most intrigued was reading about Emily’s story, who I have heard nothing about. The novel is very well-written and detailed. There were some unnecessary scenes that tended to make the novel. Still, I recommend this for fans of Varina, Thou Shall Be Near to You, and The Widow of the South. Full review to come!

The First Lady and the Rebel is a fantastic historical fiction story the captures the emotions of the separation of data families of the North and South including the Lincoln family during the civil war.

The First Lady and the Rebel by Susan Higginbotham is a fabulous novel describing a lesser-known facet of Mary Todd Lincoln then what we usually learn and think about when we think of her, her relationship, and her husband President Abraham Lincoln. This novel places us right into the turmoil (external and internal) of Mary and her sister Emily Todd Helm during the Civil War.
External as Mary has to deal with the struggle of having her sister’s loyalty to “the other side” the South, as Mary is aligned with the North and her Husband, President Lincoln. Internal as Mary has to choose between family and spouse and what is right and what is wrong.
Ms Higginbotham does a fabulous job creating these images for us so that we can feel and see this struggle as if we are there as well.
Excellent read. 5/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC. In return I am submitting my honest, unbiased, and voluntary review. Thank you.

I am fascinated by stories of Abe and Mary Lincoln. I never knew how the Civil War divided Mary from her family. There were numerous families divided by this war and the author did a fabulous job in portraying this.
Many thanks to Sourcebooks and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.