Publication
Collection
Call number
Physical description
Status
Call number
Description
"The New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, Jennifer Chiaverini, reveals the famous First Lady's very public social and political contest with Kate Chase Sprague, memorialized as "one of the most remarkable women ever known to Washington society." (Providence Journal) Kate Chase Sprague was born in 1840 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the second daughter to the second wife of a devout but ambitious lawyer. Her father, Salmon P. Chase, rose to prominence in the antebellum years and was appointed secretary of the treasury in Abraham Lincoln's cabinet, while aspiring to even greater heights. Beautiful, intelligent, regal, and entrancing, young Kate Chase stepped into the role of establishing her thrice-widowed father in Washington society and as a future presidential candidate. Her efforts were successful enough that The Washington Star declared her "the most brilliant woman of her day. None outshone her." None, that is, but Mary Todd Lincoln. Though Mrs. Lincoln and her young rival held much in common-political acumen, love of country, and a resolute determination to help the men they loved achieve greatness-they could never be friends, for the success of one could come only at the expense of the other. When Kate Chase married William Sprague, the wealthy young governor of Rhode Island, it was widely regarded as the pinnacle of Washington society weddings. President Lincoln was in attendance. The First Lady was not. Jennifer Chiaverini excels at chronicling the lives of extraordinary yet littleknown women through historical fiction. What she did for Elizabeth Keckley in Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker and for Elizabeth Van Lew in The Spymistress she does for Kate Chase Sprague in Mrs. Lincoln's Rival"--… (more)
User reviews
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the book.
MRS. LINCOLN’S RIVAL primarily focuses on the years 1859 through 1865, the year before Lincoln was nominated, through his assassination. While Mary Todd Lincoln is not mentioned very much in the book except in instances of her performing or not performing her mostly social duties as First Lady and as the mother of a child who died, the title of the book comes from the role that Kate played as the Belle of North which rivaled and overtook Mrs. Lincoln’s social position.
Mary Lincoln comes across as a petty, extravagant woman with a terrible temper. She strongly disliked the Chases, partly because they were not present in Columbus, Ohio, when the train carrying her and Abraham Lincoln stopped there enroute to DC. The fact that they were already in DC didn’t seem to matter. She maintained a grudge against them, even refusing to attend Kate’s wedding to William Sprague, former governor of Rhode Island, US Senator, and military leader.
Kate Chase comes across as beautiful, wise (especially politically), and full of herself. Her main goal was to help her father get elected President and she put down anyone who got in his way. She deeply resented anyone who had more political clout than her father. She desperately wanted to be First Lady. She also did not want her father to remarry.
There is a lot of general information about specific actions during the Civil War. It seems, however, that the horrific events on the battlefields did not diminish the party scene in DC. More attention is given to who was there, what they wore, how the room was decorated, who provided the entertainment, and what they ate. Dinner at the White House often began at midnight.
The book details her relationship with John Hay, President Lincoln’s assistant secretary and William Sprague.
Jennifer Chiaverini provides a lot of references for more information about Kate Chase as well as a short epilogue about what happened after Lincoln’s death.
I found much of the language stilted; conversations did not sound natural. Some of the information seemed illogical. In one case, an opponent is said to have had voters driven to the voting booth and given $50 to vote. That seems like an excessively high amount, even for today let alone 1860. I wonder if this early-twenty-something woman was really more politically astute than most of the men who had more education and experience than she did.
The book has too much unnecessary detail and description, almost as if the author felt compelled to tell everything she knew. It tended to make the story drag. Based on MRS. LINCOLN’S DRESSMAKER, I wonder how much of the story was written by the author and how much was taken almost verbatim from other sources.
She also doesn’t explain how Kate and her father’s relationship developed. When she was born, he wrote a disparaging comment about her in the family Bible and later sent her to a boarding school when she and her stepmother didn’t get along. Something had to happen to bring them closer and have him rely on her so much.
I first read MRS. LINCOLN’S RIVAL quilt series novels and enjoyed them. She is a good writer. I hope she returns to them.
The author paints a stunning picture of Kate Chase who is elegant, outgoing, and filled with charm and I soon became engaged with her willful character. Kate was a true and loyal daughter to Salmon P Chase and they both had an ardent desire for him to become the President of the United States. Kate was very involved with her father's political career, and as his eldest daughter, Kate would have become First Lady since he was a widower.
But their ambitions are thwarted when the Republican Party selects Mr Lincoln as their candidate and Mr Chase is sworn in as Secretary of the Treasury. It was rather ironic that Mr Chase ran the Treasury with skill, but his own finances not so well.
And the story unfolds through the Civil War, President Lincoln's days in office, the rivalry between Mrs Lincoln and Kate Chase, and finally the assassination of President Lincoln.
I became most engaged in the storyline during the rather turbulent relationship between Kate and William Sprague, the "Boy Governor" from Rhode Island. 30 year old Sprague was a cavalry officer and fueled with charm. He was very wealthy, worth millions, and owned cotton mills in Rhode Island. His accomplishments were quite extraordinary, but Kate was warned that he was less than he seemed.
The writing is simple and flowing and easy to read. I found the rivalry between Mrs Lincoln and Kate Chase to be secondary to the storyline and is certainly not what grabbed my attention. If you have any interest in the Civil War, there is a wealth of information, and much to be learned from this book. My rating is 4 stars.
Lots of good history, although I did find myself fast forwarding over some of the materials that were a bit more dry to get back to the story. There were some spots it felt a bit stiff. Not sure whether to attribute that to the reader of the audio or the writing.
Overall a really good historical fiction read!
Reader received a complimentary copy from the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.f
Overall, I thought this was an interesting book. Although there was some mention of Mrs. Lincoln, the book did not spent a lot of time on the subject. Instead, Mrs. Lincoln was in the background and a source of some friction. The vast majority of the book was about Kate's father's political career, Kate's romance with Sprague and her day-to-day-life. At times the book dragged on, especially when tediously speaking about her crush on Sprague. However, it is certainly worth a read.
As an Early Reviewer, I had expected something more in line with this author's previous work, but I guess I need to get caught up with her writing career again.
The author did a magnificent job of bringing the Civil War time to life with colorful dialogues and a perfect blend of true historical facts and imagination.
I received this book free through Library Thing Early Reviewers, the audio version produced by Recorded Books. Listening to it was a pleasure as the narrator demonstrates a wonderful range with her voice and reads with passion.
This was another outstanding woman in history who I was very glad to get to know more about. However, this book seemed to me to read more like a biography and at times was a little difficult to get through. Granted, Kate Chase was very involved in her father's politics and the story is set within the government at the time of the Civil War, so we are taken into the political decisions of the time. I've never been one for all of that. I actually found myself most interested in Kate's courtship and marriage to the 'Boy Governor' of Rhode Island, William Sprague. His characterization within the book was engrossing, perhaps because he was an alcoholic or because of the secrets he kept, William came off as almost bi-polar. William and Kate's relationship was as gripping as watching a train wreck. I was also compelled to see how Mary Todd Lincoln was portrayed. There are actually not many interactions between Kate and Mary since Mary avoided Kate at all costs, this disappointed me a little since I thought Mary would have a bit more of a role in the book. However, Kate and her friends do call Mary 'Her Satanic Majesty' and other fun nicknames throughout.
A good book to read if you want an in-depth portrayal of Kate Chase's life, but this was a little heavy for me and almost seemed as a slightly romanticized non-fiction.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
I went into this book with high expectations, having read several great reviews of the author's earlier books. I was immediately disappointed by the sparse prose and stiff dialogue. Although I could see someone living in the Civil War era speaking as formally as this book was written, combined with the third-person perspective, it left me feeling disconnected. Sometimes it seems as though the author is just trying to include all the details she could find out. She often mentions battles or people that she describes minimally and that don't add to the story.
The details she included could also be very interesting. The way people lived, the progress of the war, and the political process at the time all fascinated me. One detail of the times actually led to my biggest problem with this book. Kate feels guilty over letting a suitor kiss her. She acts completely subservient to the men in her life and is happy to devote her life to first her father's and then her husband's career. And when she ends up in an abusive relationship, she blames herself! All of this is in keeping with the times, but some indication from the author that this is unacceptable now would be necessary for me to recommend this book, especially to younger readers.
While the author mentions in the author note at the end that Kate eventually got a divorce, the book leaves her relationship story completely unresolved. The political plot is also fairly anticlimactic since we know that neither Kate's father nor her husband ever become president. At the end of the book, this left me unsure what the focus of the plot was supposed to be. Despite these negative comments, if you can accept the probably accurate but unfortunate representation of women's rights, this was a nice light read which gave an interesting glimpses of life during the Civil War. It's not the finest historical fiction I've read, but still might be worth picking up if you have an interest in the time period.
This review first published on Doing Dewey.