'Such a Rough Diamond of a Man'

A new children's book by Candace Fleming tells the seemingly well-known story of Abraham and Mary Lincoln. This little book contains a virtually untold story of the romantic side of Abe and the beautiful love story of the couple. Mary Todd was a southern belle, who lived on a wealthy plantation in Kentucky. Mary loved to read books like Abraham who once said "My best friend is a man who'll give me a book I ain't read yet." Mary did have slaves on her plantation but her mother made their house a stop on the underground rail road. Both Abraham and Mary lost their loving mothers when they were young. However, Abraham loved the widow his father married and Mary hated her stepmother. There was also their love for politics, their ambition. Mary was sure her husband would do great things even though her family strongly disapproved. She once said to a friend who asked her what she saw in him,"such a rough diamond of a man, the important thing is the diamond itself, clear and flawless under its film." They married and Mary was a hardy house wife, she and the children went with Abraham to the white house. She later said she awoke everyday with"a sense of misery." Then came the civil war, her son's death from pleurisy and her husbands assassination. She came full circle and wondered in Europe until returning home to be put on trial for insanity. She returned to the house where she was married in Springfield. She wouldn't sleep on her husbands side of the bed and died there wearing her wedding band inscribed with the words "Love is eternal."