from bfgar

The lasts few years have held some horrible surprises for me. One of the worst was the day I discovered, to my terrible surprise, that, no matter how much I want to think of myself as an enlightened, educated human being with no preconceptions nor prejudices about others, I was horribly wrong as ...

from tloeffler

Elizabeth Keckley was a slave for 30 years. Once she bought her freedom, she opened a dressmaking business, and eventually became Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker. This is her autobiography. We hear conversations between the President and his wife, conversations they both held with Elizabeth, the p...

from Jcambridge

Having recently attended a performance of The Widow Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC, I wanted to learn more about the relationship between Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley. I opted for this memoir rather than a historical novel and am glad I did. The writing is wonderful and gives the re...

from Citizenjoyce

Elizabeth Keckley gives us an interesting look at life in US in the 1800's, the politics of the time and her relationship with the people of the era. There's a little snapshot of Fredrick Douglas and a larger analysis of Mary Todd Lincoln in which the reader is both annoyed with the frippery of t...

from estamm

The book starts with a short life-story of the author, a former slave who bought her own freedom. She became well-known as a seamstress and went to work for Mary Lincoln. There are many recollections in this book that are well known in Lincoln-lore, but they originated in this book. Thus, as an o...