I was looking forward to historical fiction from a personal point of view, that of Mary Lincoln's dressmaker. What I got was a dry historical recollection of events surrounding and including the Civil War. The author should be praised for her historical research; the book read more like a US history textbook! - at least the part I read. I admit to skipping the middle half and even then I still feel disappointed. There was a lack of character development and storyline.

I was a bit disappointed with this book. I thought the author, known for her quilt books, would have made this subject matter a bit less dry. I recently read a very short story about this subject matter and was satisfied with that. I thought this book would be a bit more interesting than it was. I read about a quarter of the book and gave up for a more interesting book. If you lean towards historical books, this is the book for you.

Slow-going at times, this novel is an insider's look at what could have been going on during the time leading up to and through the Civil War, as well as many years after. Elizabeth Keckley is portrayed as a sensitive, insightful, honourable woman, who mostly was true to sound values. Now I want to do some research on her and read non-fiction about her. This book was not as alive for me as Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilt novels, but it is an interesting and enjoyable read.