The House of Lincoln provides readers with a glimpse of the rise of Abraham Lincoln from the eyes of an immigrant girl as she arrives in Springfield, Illinois. I enjoyed the characters provided by Nancy Horan and their introspections on ideas of the time period as it involves racial inequalities. The book is well researched and because of this it at times falls off narrative and becomes more of a history lesson. Overall, I enjoyed this book. I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own. 3.5 stars

An enjoyable and informative book that shows much about Lincoln and his family before he became president. Much is also learned about the city of Springfield, Ill and its inhabitants. The book is well written and should be enjoyed by many especially those who read historical fiction

This is the story of the rise of Abraham Lincoln, told through the eyes of Ana, a young immigrant who works in the Lincoln household. It's rich in historical detail and a fascinating read.

This is my first fictional story about Abe Lincoln, but I really enjoyed learning about the time period and the man behind the presidency. The characters were really developed and I like that some of them were based on real people.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This story was fantastically done. The book follows a young woman, Ana, who works in the Lincoln home, as well as a few various individuals who are affected by slavery. The story takes place in Springfield, before Abraham Lincoln is elected to the presidency. The characters were very well-written, and the story was very relatable even though it took place almost two centuries ago. I highly enjoyed the insight of women's positions in society at that time as well as the fact that clearly women have come a long way but at that point still had wishes, dreams, and the hope to become educated. The story was beautiful as well because it highlighted Mary Todd Lincoln who I now see was somewhat misunderstood for struggles with mental health.

I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys good historical fiction that is well-written, relatable, and is clearly well-researched.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My sentiments towards this book are rather mixed. While I did derive enjoyment from the main character's journey and found the author's adeptness at portraying the setting and seamlessly interweaving historical facts with the fictional narrative to be truly intriguing, there were instances where the abundance of factual information became overwhelming. At times, it felt as though I was reading a history book rather than experiencing a cohesive story, prompting me to skim through certain pages. Nevertheless, the desire to witness the resolution of the main character's tale kept me engaged, and I did find myself empathizing with certain situations portrayed.

Although historical fiction is not my primary genre of choice, the premise of this book managed to capture my interest, and I must admit that it delivered a solid reading experience. If historical fiction happens to be your preferred genre, this book is likely to rank among your favorites.

This book was very interesting! I learned a lot about race relations in Springfield that I was unaware of. This book was thoroughly researched. It did seem a bit long and descriptive in some places.

The central figure in this historical novel is Ana, a Portuguese teenager who, with her family escaped religious persecution in Madiera, to Trinidad where they worked as slaves, then to Springfield IL when Lincoln was a young lawyer. The book spans about 60 yrs and we see Ana's growth from a young maid and mother's helper to Mary Todd Lincoln to the devoted wife of a Civil War Veteran with PTSD, and an observer of race relations in the US and in her town.
The book show how history impacted the lives of Americans (immigrants, slaves, whites, blacks) from another perspective which we are often unaware of. As Always, Nancy Horan's research is impeccable and she brings into play the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the White House years, the devastation of Mary Lincoln over the death of their son, the assassination of The President, and the ensuing years back in Springfield.
There were several political passages in the book which served to highlight the divisiveness of the time, and I found them to be a little too detailed, although they were well written. I liked the structure of the book especially the relationship between Cal and Ana - and I was saddened by the change in their friendship when Cal went to Chicago as a milliner's apprentice. Ana's relationship with her husband was just beautiful and Horan described their mutual love and respect in realistic terms.
I received a complementary ARC of this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks and the opinions expressed are my own.

This wasn't interesting go account girl name ANA FERR EIA who lived in Springfield Illinois. The time when Lincoln was. In Was living there. Her family had to leave madeira because they had prosecution of their religion. She was a headstrong girl and she made friends with the girl named c a l who was black and her parents didn't really want her to play with this girl. This was an interesting book because they took facts in history and put it together and how this impact of the girl's lives. They talked about the underground railroad and How c a l helped with that as well. They told different stories and how these black people were treated even if they were free.. ANA start to work in Lincoln's house. I've been made and she became very good friends with Mary. His wife and she learned a lot because she always read newspapers and she kept up everything. She also married and she had a very happy life until the civil war and her husband was set off to fight. CAL went to Chicago to start making hats because she felt she had more freedom there than in Spring. Field. It was interesting how things started to evolve when you want to become president of the United States and you can see how Lincoln was always struggling with the freedom. Issue of the slavery's. I like how it was told to the eyes of 2 young girls and how they witnessed history and how they participated in it.. And how people changed after the war some people were bitter and some people had a lot of emotional problems especially her husband but anna presaled. It was interesting how they got a library going in this town she felt that was very important.

After having read Nancy Horan’s earlier historic novels focused on Frank Lloyd Wright and Robert Louis Stevenson (Loving Frank and Under the Wide and Starry Sky), I looked forward to reading The House of Lincoln. Like the earlier books, which are about much more that Wright and Stevenson, the latest is about far more than Lincoln, the Midwestern lawyer turned President during a time of national divisiveness. It’s about his homes—one in Springfield, Illinois and the other the White House—and about the people around him—his wife, his children, and Ana, a Portuguese immigrant. It’s also about how the nation evolved or failed to evolve between 1851 and 1909, the years Horan covers in the novel.

Because the story of Lincoln’s rise from obscurity to his assassination by John Wilkes Booth is so well known, I was drawn to the stories of Ana Ferriera and Cal Patterson From a Portuguese Presbyterian family who fled Catholic Portugal and settled in Little Madeira, a Springfield neighborhood, Anna was the first in the family to learn English and to assimilate into American life, obtaining a job assisting Mary Todd Lincoln with household chores. Anna also met Cal, who through their friendship, introduced Anna to Springfield’s African American history, including the local Underground Railroad run by free blacks. Lest readers falsely assume Illinois sympathized with its black citizens, Horan quickly dispels that notion by including white supremacist groups such as the KKK as well as Springfield’s 1908 race riot. All that said, the average reader will also learn much about Lincoln, the man.

Horan’s short but interesting Afterword explains how she based several characters on historical family members or collective groups living in Springfield and appearing in historical records.
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance reader copy.

Shared on GoodReads and Barnes and Noble

Pretty slow but that’s how I envision life in these times so it for, but I just think this book would have been better received as a winter release, when life has slowed down. I’d love to get into this one when I’m sitting by the fire! Really well researched, I’ll give it another try in a slower season of life!

This historical fiction set around the life of Abraham Lincoln really made some history come to life for me. It starts out around the friendship of two little girls. Ana is white (Portuguese) and Cal is black. At that point in their lives, all they know is they love each other in the purest way of children. As time goes on, the slavery issue intensifies and their friendship is somewhat lost when Ana's parents tell her she can no longer play with Cal.

The personal (although fictional) look into the Lincoln family was heartwarming and sometimes devastating at the same time. The losses that Mary Lincoln suffered certainly shaped her life. The supporting characters really give an overall view of the effect of the requirements on the towns people (black and white) to hide those running for their lives, the impact of the Civil War and the riot that followed it years later.

So much sadness, loss and despair that taken to it's bare bones could be exemplified by the strained friendship of Ana and Cal all the way to their old age.

Thanks to Sourcebook Landmark and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really read about anything I can get my hands on regarding Lincoln. He's my favorite President as much for his personality and myths as anything else. I also love historical fiction so I grabbed the chance to read this historical fiction novel about Lincoln. It was much less about Lincoln than I would have assumed. The story is about a young girl who goes to work at the Lincoln household in Springfield. She gets to know his family and him a bit. She also sees what is happening aroudn Springfield in this period of time. I think that is truly the focus of this book. She sees the blatant racism and hostility in many town folk but also learns about some people who are hiding the slaves as a part of the underground railroad. At one point she thinks that if she knows this, surely Lincoln himself has figured it out as well. The story of Abraham Lincoln unfortunates finds himself reaching that dreaded conclusion of his life but the book continues for another 20% or so longer and we get a glimpse of the narrator, now an old woman seeing the continued fallout from the civil war and freeing of slaves. She witnesses the mob mentality still in the town and lynchings as well. And she wonders what could have been if Lincoln had been able to see another four years of the preseidency and begin his own plans of reconciliation into being. The book was fast paced and I give it a lot of credit for the wider eye lens into Springfield at those piviotal moments of history. I would have liked more time with Lincoln and his family as I expected from this book.

Nancy Horan's debut, Loving Frank, is the reason I fell in love with historical fiction, and her novels have continued to be inspiring and beautifully written as she concentrates on shining a light on the women, those behind the famous / infamous historical names, who tend to get overshadowed by history.

Although Lincoln was really just a peripheral character for this story, so much of it revolved around him and his ascent to the presidency and the issues he grappled with during that time. But the stars of this story are those who would often be forgotten - the workers, the refugees, the slaves, and the real people who made up the US at the time. I found the story enjoyable and educational in places, although there were points where the pacing didn't quite work for me, and the details didn't always make sense. Overall an interesting read and worth the time.

My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I must say I was disappointed in this book. After reading the description, I thought it would be much more about Lincoln. I found the story to be a bit disjointed and I didn’t think the characters were as robust as they could have been. It did cover some interesting points in Illinois history which I enjoyed learning about. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nancy Horan's new novel, The House of Lincoln, is a fictionalized re-telling of the life of Abraham Lincoln and the history of the town of Springfield, Illinois, where he lived and started his family prior to being elected 16th President of the United States. The novel spans some 70 years, and focuses on three families, two real and one fictitious: the Lincolns, the Donnegans, a family of free blacks who were active in assisting those who escaped from enslavement to move north; and the Ferrieras, a fictional family inspired by the lives of Portuguese religious exiles from Madeira who emigrated vis Trinidad to Springfield, Illinois, in 1849. Springfield itself, growing from a small village to a bustling city and the state capital, is also a major character in this novel, and a locus of events that the author uses to highlight the conflicting opinions and feelings of both white and Black people, and the events those opinions and feelings caused, both before and after the Civil War. The novel culminates in the true story of the Springfield Riot of 1908, when a white woman's false claim that she'd been raped by a Black man sparked riots in which white people burned and looted in a section of the city largely populated by Blacks, and lynched two Black men: William Donnegan, a minister, and Scott Burton, a barber. The Springfield Riot was the impetus for the formation in 1909 of the NAACP.

Horan's writing powerfully humanized Abraham Lincoln and his family, transforming them from iconic historical figures into real, relatable individuals, with flaws and foibles, but also great capacity for growth and change. Without lengthy descriptions of battles and strategies, she also brought home the suffering experienced by Civil War soldiers as well as the families who waited for their return. And her use of Ana Ferriera as a central narrator/observer of all these events gave these events a striking perspective from the viewpoint of a naive and idealistic young girl coming of age in a tumultuous time in our history. Very well done!

The House of Lincoln by Nancy Horan, is a little different take on the life of Lincoln. This book gave us a better look at the early lives of Abraham and Mary his wife. This book is told in the point of view of Ana and young Portuguese refugee that helps take care of their young children. Overall I found this to be a good read, just not a great one. Having said that I would still recommend this to others.

I receive an ARC from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark, and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

In 1849, Ana and her family flee the island of Madeira, Portugal to escape religious intolerance. The family settles, along with a large Portuguese population, in Springfield, Illinois. Three years later, Ana is 14, speaks English and gets a job in the Lincoln household as a cleaner and helper with the Lincoln boys. The story follows Ana and her family and the connections with Abraham Lincoln and his family as Lincoln rises to the presidency and fights for the equality of all Americans.

Review:
This story gives the reader an inside look into the lives of Abraham and Mary Lincoln. The story gives us details on their lives before the presidency and follows Abraham from a traveling lawyer, to politician, to his debates with Stephen Douglas, his election as the 16th president, the Civil War and his tragic death. Lincoln was early to the battle for equality and justice in the U.S. He prioritized his family, America and ending slavery. The story also puts a spotlight on Mary Lincoln and the many sacrifices she made for her country. It focuses on the grief and sorrow she suffered over losing her husband and three children, falling into a deep depression. Along the way, the story explores the friendship between Ana and her young black friend, Callie. Their exposure to the underground railroad as young girls bonds them together and this friendship carries through into their last years. Ana’s family’s story is a familiar one with immigrants struggling to adapt to a new country and often the younger generation succeeding where the elders fail to thrive. The story is filled with historical facts brought to life through the characters living in Springfield. The reader witnesses the growth and changes of Springfield itself through the years. The tale of Springfield is captivating, ending with the Springfield Race Riot of 1908. This riot created the formation of the NAACP, devoted to fighting for the civil rights of African Americans.
This historical fiction novel is a sweeping tale of the rise of Abraham Lincoln along with the city of Springfield, Illinois. The reader can feel the strain in the town between the immigrants, free blacks and white townspeople. Abraham’s work shown a spotlight on the city, but race relations were difficult even in his hometown. The reader was given a different look at the life of Abraham Lincoln through the lens of a town and the lens of a young immigrant girl growing up along the way. The perspective was well done and gives a fresh take on the story of Abraham Lincoln. I particularly enjoyed the focus on Mary and her life as fascinating details were included such as Mary’s own family was spilt between Union and Confederate during the war. A must read for all historical fiction and Lincoln fans.

Notes: This story contains violence and a lynching.

The House of Lincoln by Nancy Horan, follows the life of Ana Ferreira in Springfield, Illinois. As a young girl she witnesses first hand the turbulant times leading up to the Civil War. When she becomes a servant for the lincoln family, her compasion for Mary and Abraham becomes personal.. As the Civil War breaks out, Ana's family experiences first hand the pain associated with war. And as an elderly woman at the turn of the century, Ana witnesses the horrible treatment of blacks and freed slaves in America. This is an excellent historical novel which covers many aspects of the time period from 1851-1909.