Mrs Lincoln

Janis Cooke Newman lives in San Francisco, where she teaches classes in creative writing. While Mrs Lincoln is her first novel, Newman is also the author of The Russian Word for Snow, a memoir about adopting her son from a Moscow orphanage. Her writing has appeared in numerous anthologies, including Secret Lives of Lawfully Wedded Wives and four Travelers' Tales editions. Newman's travel writing has appeared in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including the LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Backpacker. She is also co-founder of Line by Line, a literary editing service.

"...this epic drama exerts an exceptional pull... an impressive, engrossing and moving piece of historical imagining and characterisation." - Holly Kyte, The Sunday Telegraph "...a tender and thoughtful portrait of a 19th century woman severely misunderstood... Mrs Lincoln unfolds with plenty to inspire and is all the more poignant for a timely arrival." - Sarah Emily Miano, The Times "I could not put Mary down and as I read it, I wept. I cannot recommend a book more. Mary is a very powerful novel." - Pat Schroeder, President of the Association of American Publishers "Mary is one of those rare books that turns the reader into an admiring fan of both the author and her subject. You feel a compulsion to urge others to read it...Newman gives Mary a riveting voice...after reading Mary, you'll view stout little Mrs. Lincoln - and her 19th-century sisters - in a new, more respectful light." - USA Today "...a gripping tale of scandal, war, intrigue, and seances...for sheer page-turning fun, Mary is perfect." - San Francisco Magazine "...a moving story of former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, an intelligent and unconventional woman." - Washington Woman "An old-fashioned pleasure to read - its 700 pages fly by more easily than those in novels a third its length...[views] the sweep of an extraordinary life, one that Newman manages to enliven with a verve that might have pleased, as well as appalled, Mary herself." - Cleveland Plain Dealer "...thoughtful and thoroughly enjoyable...Mary is not only a fascinating read, but also a touching love story." - Chicago Sun-Times "Mary presents a challenge to any historical novelist. Newman makes a good choice in telling the story through Mary's eyes and drawing readers into her perspective...readers looking for a vivid, mostly flattering account of [Lincoln's] once-notorious spouse, whose letters are becoming more read, will not be disappointed - and those who simply come upon it will be happily surprised." - Publishers Weekly "...mesmerizing...a gripping read that vividly portrays history in a way we all wish our high school history teachers had. Grade: A." - Rocky Mountain News "[An] inventive novel...A gripping blend of fact and fiction, Mary's dramatic life story, the tragic tale of the woman behind one of the most popular American presidents, appeals to history buffs and casual readers alike." - Pages Magazine "Janis Cooke Newman's Mary is the immensely readable, close-to-life story of America's best known and most controversial First Lady. Sensitive to the facts as well as graced by realistic dialogue and an empathetic portrayal of places and people, including Abraham Lincoln, Mary's Mary finally tells her own story. This is historical fiction at its best." - Jean H. Baker, author of Mary Lincoln: A Biography "From her words, recounting the exceptional circumstances in which [Mary Todd Lincoln] participated as a president's wife and widow, arises a poignant understanding of how she took advantage of the opportunities extended to her to fulfil her destiny." - Booklist "Moving and with an almost palpable compassion for its subject, yet clear-eyed and even humorous at times, this is a book I will be re-reading." - Historical Novels Review "Newman does an exquisite job of creating a deep sense of sympathy for [Mary Todd] Lincoln...It is all but impossible not to be moved by the repeated personal tragedies that Mary Todd Lincoln is forced to endure and by the way her individuality is constantly held against her. Newman successfully elevates her and, portraying her through a 21st- century lens, makes her an early icon for the feminist movement." - Indianapolis Star "...presents a riveting portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln...[her] hopes, dreams, feelings, and thoughts are conveyed with depth and subtlety." - Library Journal "In Mary, author Janis Cooke Newman breathes life into Mary Todd Lincoln...very affecting and memorable." - Record-Courier "...adds breadth to the biographical sketch that history has bequeathed...[Newman's] Mary Todd Lincoln was less the drama queen, wallowing in the cult of death, as many have made her out to be, and more a deeply sensitive, star-crossed woman worthy of our respect and, yes, even our understanding." - Lexington Herald-Leader "This is no run-of-the-mill historical novel. Newman has done her research, and the result is a juicy, literary read...engrossing and enjoyable." - Portland Tribune "...thoroughly engaging...it is what history doesn't tell us that makes this book sing - the inner, intimate world of a brave and fascinating woman." - Ann LaFarge, Constant Reader "...complex and compelling...the Mary who is so deftly portrayed on these pages is one who manages to survive despite the best efforts of her world to subdue her." - Nashville Scene ("Critics Pick") "Newman has no doubt done her homework...[her] writing is detailed and conversational and she has created a page-turner. The reader is left feeling like they know and understand 'one of history's most misunderstood and enigmatic women.'" - ForeWord Magazine "An invective against the crimes of psychology and the power of men over women, Mary saves Mrs. Lincoln from history and delivers her unto the feminists." - The Skinny Magazine "...a truly authentic tone and style...Mary Todd Lincoln's emotional ups and downs and enormous spending sprees are well documented, but Newman presents them in a sympathetic light, portraying Mary as a deeply passionate, intelligent woman in a time when these qualities in women were discouraged and feared." - BookPage "This is a fascinating, eloquent novel about a widely misunderstood woman...I cannot recommend Mary more highly." - Curledup.com "Throughout the novel, an underlying sensuality humanizes the prose and makes Mary seem incongruous to the formal Victorian time period in which she lived...It is a skilful characterization that makes [Mary and Abraham's] relationship together seem inevitable and unforced." - Omaha City Weekly "Remembering (as part of her 'treatment'), she takes us with her into the world that shaped her: a woman a president loved, a deeply superstitious and very politically savvy person in an age when to be either plus female was frowned on, and a character in her own right - even when no one acknowledged it except the lady herself. Take another look." - The Courier-Gazette "Janis Cooke Newman's fictional portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln - smart, funny, empathetic, and often wounded - is truly remarkable!...Newman weaves fact and creative hypothesis together brilliantly to create a tragic yet inspiring story of a rare and extraordinary first lady." - Amanda Lydon, Good Yarns Bookshop (Hastings on Hudson, NY) "Epic in scope and fully imagined, Mary is a moving portrait of a woman who has long been misunderstood. Cooke Newman creates in Mary an unforgettable account that will haunt readers long after they've closed the book. Remarkably realized, this is a devastating story of love, delusion, grief and history." - Elaine Petrocelli, Book Passage (Corte Madera, CA) "Mary is a daring novel about the inner life of Mary Todd Lincoln; an intelligent, sympathetic, well-written work of speculative fiction." - Kevin Baker, author of Paradise Alley and Strivers Row"