Thank you Sourcebooks and Net Galley for affording me a sneak peak into Nancy Horan's latest historical novel. Having analyzed the doomed affair between the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney and the turbulent partnership of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and his Indiana-born wife, Fanny Osbourne, Nancy Horan turns her attention to Abraham and Nancy Todd Lincoln. This sweeping historical novel is unique in that its account of the Lincolns is reflected primarily through the lens of Ana Ferreira, a young immigrant whose family fled religious persecution in Madeira, Portugal, ultimately settling in Springfield, Illinois.

Ana, who received an education thanks to a pious widow for whom she served as a companion, along with her childhood friend, the freeborn Cal, are recruited as teens to work in the Lincoln household, assisting the sensitive, kind and lonely Mary Lincoln with her young sons and with her duties as a partner to the unkempt lawyer and rising political star. With her unerring eye for detail that makes history so accessible, Horan explains how Mary’s sister was appalled that Mary had fallen in love with “such an uncouth person as Abraham Lincoln” whose “twang” revealed that he had come from “country poverty” and who urged Mary to reciprocate the attention of Stephen Douglas, a likely future President, who had courted her “quite enthusiastically.”

Ana takes the reader through the evolution of Abraham Lincoln from a stint in the U.S. House of Representatives who had no fear of offending southern states with his views on slavery in his legendary debates with Douglas to U.S. President to the Great Emancipator. Horan uses Ana, Cal and ancillary characters, like Lincoln’s barber, to provide details about the society in which they were living. These characters discuss how Illinois, despite having been a free state since its beginnings, engaged in the cat and mouse of moving runaways since the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Act with its stiff fines and jail terms for those who assisted runaway slaves, debate the colonization of black people to Liberia, deride the Illinois Black Laws which made free black men only half free, and applaud the fiery orator Frederick Douglass.

Horan brings the past to life with a masterful blend of careful research and a skilled novelist’s attention to detail. She explains, for example, how the Lincolns, concerned that their dog Fido would “be upset by the busyness of the White House,” gave the dog to a friend before they departed for Washington, with “strenuous instructions on the care and feeding of Fido.” It is these types of seemingly extraneous details that help to provide the reader with a more robust picture of these towering historic figures. She also shines a light on the lives of those, like Ana and Cal, whom history typically ignores.

The House of Lincoln was a beautifully written historical story about a young girl, who's family immigrated from Portugal, and ended up working for Abraham Lincoln's family. It deals with the Underground Railroad, the Civil War and Race Riots, and describes them all in such heart breaking detail that you can picture yourself living through the events that shaped our nation. Absolutely memorizing novel!

Having visited the Mary Todd House recently in Lexington, Kentucky and walking through a piece of history, my interest was peeked in "The House of Lincoln" by Nancy Horan.

First line: February 1909: Below, the men are eating turtle soup.

Synopsis: Horan's book gives us a different look into the Lincoln family and the years preceeding. during and after the Civil War via Ana, a Portuguese immigrant and servant for the family. Ana watches the evolution of Lincoln's views on equality and the Union. Helping Mary Todd Lincoln with household duties as Abraham Lincoln's political power grows, she has a unique view of the family dynamics. Ana also confronts racial prejudice alongside her friend and she watches the inner workings of the underground railroad. The reality of slavery contradicts the promise of freedom in her adopted country.

My thoughts: My first Nancy Horan book was an interesting and educational experience. This is an epic tale spanning 50 years and covering so very much ground. Its sad to think how far we still have to go as a country for everyone to be treated equally. While this isn't my normal go-to type of story, my favorite sections are the ones we get to experience life as Ana does in her new home of Springfield, Illinois. With topics of slavery, immigration, class differences, and women's rights "The House of Lincoln" is a compelling read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for introducing me to Nancy Horan and lessor known information about an important time in our history.

This book tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's rise from lawyer to U.S. president, told through the voice of a young immigrant from Madeira, Portugal. In this story fourteen-year-old Ana Ferreira lands a job in the Lincoln household assisting Mary Lincoln with their boys Although Ana is a fictional character, the influx of people from Madeira Island to Springfield due to the oppressive climate and labor conditions was very real. This was not something I was aware of, and I found this very enlightening. The book also covers the underground railroad, the assassination of Lincoln, and the little-known Springfield race riot of 1908. This riot was the catalyst for forming the NAACP. I had never heard of the Springfield race riot, and it was horrifying to read about this tragic time in U.S. history. I liked that the story was told from the fresh perspective of an immigrant, giving an insider's view on this time period.. If you are a history buff or a fan of historical fiction, then you definitely will want to read this.

It’s always nice to read books of historical figures. This book bring you a lot of the history of Lincoln’s time and his life. Very entertaining and highly recommend.

Set in the time leading up to and after the Civil War, Ana briefly works in the Lincoln household in Springfield. She is a Portuguese and has a front seat to strife and prejudice.

I did not enjoy this book, mostly because it is called The House of Lincoln and there is very little Lincoln in it. This book is about Ana and the times and is so slow that it is tedious. I have read and liked Horan's books before, but they are actually about the person named in the title. Not only did I feel like this was very misleading; I just did not find anything interesting or good about this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

The premise of this story is totally misleading. Which is upsetting, because I’ve been waiting to read this book for at least a year.

The majority of the story is told from Ana’s POV. She’s a Portuguese immigrant who worked as a housekeeper for the Lincolns on the weekend. Ana and her relationship with the Lincolns is only a small part of the narrative. She had no knowledge of the “inner workings of the Underground Railroad”, she only learned of this from a newspaper article YEARS after the Civil War ended and I never once saw where she “confronted the racial prejudice her friend encounters daily”. We do get other POVs from a number of characters in the book, but between the subplots and the huge jump in time beginning towards the middle of the book…this just didn’t work for me.

There are tons of historical facts sprinkled in regarding immigration, slavery, the Lincolns, the Civil War, Emancipation, the Springfield Race Riot of 1908…. and so this reads more like a “Who’s Who” of Springfield, IL.

I hate to say it, but over all this was dry and boring.

Ana’s family has come to America from Portugal looking for asylum, and she is old enough to find a job to help with the family expenses. Her position assisting Mary Lincoln, wife of the up-and-coming Abraham Lincoln, gives her a unique opportunity to witness not only the family relationships but the political world as well. Her black friend, Cal, inadvertently introduces her to the Underground Railroad, something that makes her much more aware of the racial differences in her town, and just how important it is that Mr. Lincoln succeed in his political goals.

I’ve read enough books and watched enough History Channel programs to know a fair bit about Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary, so I was already familiar with much of the family dynamics portrayed in this book. Telling the story through the eyes of a teenager, though, provided a unique perspective into the lives of the Lincolns and the political turmoil of the time, primarily the issue of slavery, but also the impending civil war. The reader also gets to peak behind the curtain around a family of immigrants, which was enlightening.

This book wasn’t quite what I expected or hoped for – I was looking for more of a biography of Abraham Lincoln and his family, and not so much focus on everything else. When I thought about it, though, I realized that it would be hard to tell the story of Lincoln without getting into “everything else,” as so much of what was happening at the time shaped his beliefs and policies. I wasn’t aware of the race riots in Springfield in the early 1900s, but reading the author’s descriptions made it seem eerily like I was reading an article plucked from one of today’s new sources – and it’s scary that we apparently have learned much of anything in a century.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, well researched and offered different perspective on pre and post Civil War - in a northern state.

I love Abe Lincoln and especially retellings that involve him. The mystery about what he could have been involved in is delightful! This story was a delight and structured well. Nancy Horan does a great job of weaving together characters who were real and circumstances that were not. I really enjoyed this and look forward to checking out her other works!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

Ana is 14 when she goes to work for the Lincoln family and this is her story as well as a look at Illinois and Lincoln for the next 50 years. An immigrant from Madeira she finds economic security and a different sort of life. She's very much a lens for a different look at Lincoln but she's an intriguing one. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I almost put this aside because well, there are many novels featuring Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln as well as innumerable biographies (and a really terrific movie) but it's a good read that's both educational and entertaining.

This is a very interesting read. I love this recounting of the life of Abraham Lincoln and the people that surrounded hi. During the last few years of his life. This book is very informative, heartaches and heartwarming. Must read. I was given an advanced reader copy of this very well written book by NetGalley and I am freely leaving my review.

A good read of the Lincolns during the civil war time period. It gives you a lot about Mary Todd’s personality and life style which was interesting. There is a friendship between 2 young girls, Cal and Ana in Springfield IL that lasts over the years after the civil war. The book doesn’t over emphasize civil war details.

The House of Lincoln follows Ana Ferreira, a young Portuguese immigrant who works for the Lincoln’s helping with household duties and the boys. This book is full of history and is a good historical fiction read. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I picked this book up, but overall it was good. The book covers a lot of different episodes in time, focusing mostly around race and freedoms. Starting with slavery and ending with race riots, this book touches on this historical events that helped shape our history and calls out things that I hadn’t known before. I feel like I learned a lot about the different conflicts during these times and saw how slavery was abolished, but quickly switched into a different type of segregation. I enjoyed learning about some of these histories I hadn’t known before.

I also really enjoyed the parts of the book centering around Abraham Lincoln and his family. Lincoln has always fascinated me and I liked getting to learn more about his family while getting to see Ana interact with them, even if that let was fiction. This was a good historical book that was full of information that I hadn’t known before, but am glad I know now. If you are a fan of history and are interested in Lincoln and how slavery transformed into segregation, I think this book does a good job of showing these events. I found this to be an enjoyable read, not my typical go to genre, but good nonetheless.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The House of Lincoln.

I loved Loving Frank, so I was excited to see this ARC was available for request. Also, Abraham Lincoln is my favorite president.

Like some readers, I thought this was going to be about Ana and her relationship/friendship with the Lincolns, but that's only a small part of the narrative.

Told from from Ana's POV, a Portuguese immigrant, and a couple of free Black entrepreneurs about life before, during, and after Lincoln's presidency, we see Ana grow from an intelligent, naive child to a world weary older woman who has seen more than she could ever have imagined in her adopted homeland.

I empathized with Ana's mother's struggles to adapt to a new country, its language, rituals, and customs, and her deep longing for her home country.

That's the life of all immigrant families; our parents and our grandparents', and their sacrifices allow future generations a step up in America, with hopefully better and greater opportunities.

I also liked how the author shines a spotlight on Mary Lincoln; how she was poorly treated by her only living son and society; how her grief and sorrow over her husband and three sons led her spiraling into a deep depression that may have been the reason her life ended as soon as it did.

The writing was great, but the prose sometimes sounded dry, the author just recounting events and facts. It lacked the warm and emotional urgency the chaotic and frenetic energy during those frightening times.

The premise is misleading.

This isn't a story between Ana and the Lincolns; yes, there is brief interaction, but The House of Lincoln is about the people in Lincoln's social circle; not the politicians or the wealthy, the everyday people who struggle to make a living and to live, during a period of great social and civil unrest (not unlike what we're experiencing now).

I appreciated the author's intensive research and the knowledge I gained from reading this, but I wish I had liked The House of Lincoln more.

THÉ HOUSE OF LINCOLN is a mash up of several stories in one with relatively short chapters devoted to each story. For me, this meant that each time I was falling for one thread, I had to pick up another thread. This works for romance novels but for a work with house and Lincoln in it’s name, it left me a little disgruntled, though there was magic in each thread. There are some intricate, deeply felt chapters of the Lincolns, but then much is glossed over, I suppose to make room for all the, vastly different, thinly connected stories. I did learn things, feel things, but in the end my view of what this story was truly about is as patchwork as it’s offering. And the sad thing is that there was no need for that. Any of the stories would have stood on its own, but with the skill of this author, why not just write of the Lincolns?

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book has a lot of interesting historical material to work with and yet lacked the narrative focus to keep me hooked. There were too many points of view incorporated into this and sometimes the point of view would change from paragraph to paragraph. Then there were whole side plots that didn’t really appear to pay off. I felt like the time span was also too large for the story the author was trying to tell. I liked the focus on the riot of 1908 but felt like it got tacked on at the end. Then in the middle, the time jumps got significantly longer and we were skipping four or five years at a time. Overall, I enjoyed the history but struggled with the structure of this book.

It’s not the book. It’s me. I am a fan of this author, Nancy Horan. I enjoyed Loving Frank years ago, and her more recent book about Robert Louis Stevenson. But, I think, I’ve lost interest in this sort of historical fiction, at least for now. From what I did read, Horan is in fine form, and has chosen a unique angle to tell a fresh(er) story about the sixteenth POTUS. The Portuguese immigrant, Ana, is not a voice we’ve heard before, as far as I know. I’m sure I’ll come back to this one day, but for now I’m moving in.

Unique covering of the U.S. civil war history using several points of view, one being a Portuguese immigrant girl and another from free black men in Illinois. We are introduced to the struggles in Illinois as they try to put many black laws in place. Ana, the Portuguese immigrant shows us the Lincolns as she is a house worker for them before he becomes president. The story then continues with her concern for her husband fighting in the war as she remains in Springfield, Illinois. Perhaps the author has tried to cover too many aspects of those 4-5 years. I found it slow starting and wasn't taken in until three-fourths through. The characters were well developed but the story seemed to skip around too much, perhaps because as I said, she tried to cover so much time.

Exceptional read. The House of Lincoln taught me much more than I previously knew about Abraham Lincoln, the man, his family and his assent to the White House. The story, told through the eyes of Ana, who is a fictional character, represents one of the many Portuguese immigrants, who settled in Springfield, Illinois. The parallels in history between now and two hundred years ago, are not lost on the reader. It’s a daunting feeling. Nancy Horan is a gifted writer. I loved Loving Frank and look forward to reading more of her works. Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. #Netgalley, #TheHouseofLincoln.