Mary, Mrs. A. Lincoln

Starred review from July 4, 2016
Lundy (The Festive Table), a founder of the Southern Foodways Alliance and the Appalachian Food Summit, clearly has a deep understanding and appreciation for Southern cooking. Defining Appalachia as an area encompassing Kentucky, the Virginias, Tennessee, southern Ohio, North Carolina, southern Ohio, and northern Georgia, she provides is an elegantly photographed and lovingly narrated appreciation of Appalachian cuisine and the people who grow and prepare it. Drawing from family recipes, her own creations, and dishes from vintage cookbooks, Lundy takes the reader on a virtual tour of the area, stopping to explain the difference between salad and sallet (a specific way of cooking greens), touring regional museums, and talking shop with a handful of small, local producers. She introduces readers to simple dishes such as buttermilk cucumber salad, skillet corn, icebox green strawberry pickles, and roasted candy roaster squash, a regional favorite. Though she has a tendency to meander a bit (the instructions for skillet-fried chicken and milk gravy take up a page and a half), Lundy is a warm and charming guide with a deep-seated love and respect for the region and its approach to cuisine. Fans of locally sourced foods and Southern cooking will find a lot to like here, as Lundy does a terrific job of showcasing Appalachia’s breadth and depth.

May 15, 2006
Abraham Lincoln's widow was committed by her son in 1875; kept awake by the bedlam of her fellow inmates, she takes up a pen. Newman, author of the memoir The Russian Word for Snow
, portrays Mary Todd Lincoln (1818– 1882) as a proto-feminist: she seduces poor Illinois lawyer Lincoln; kick-starts his career; draws his attention to the slavery issue; corrects his elocution before the Lincoln-Douglas debates; and lobbies behind the scenes (she also has an affair). After the 1860 election, the narrative returns to accepted history, dominated by Mary's crushing misery after a son's death in 1862, her husband's assassination and another son's death in 1872, punctuated by lavish shopping expeditions and an occasional psychotic break. Not introspective and demonstrative, Mary presents a challenge for any historical novelist. Newman makes a good choice in telling the story through Mary's eyes and drawing readers into her perspective. Lincoln buffs can give this a pass because he comes across as a shadowy figure, but readers looking for a vivid, mostly flattering (and rather massive) account of his once-notorious spouse, whose letters are becoming more read, will not be disappointed—and those who simply come upon it will be happily surprised.