Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. It was a great story and it was interesting to see the Lincolns from another perspective.

This is a three star rounded up for me. It was not at all what I was expecting and it was SO slow moving. I was excited for this one because of the Lincoln connection. Don’t be mistaken - Lincoln is barely there and the first part of the book takes a long time to getting to the point. It is detail overloaded as we learn about pieces of the Underground Railroad. Don’t get me wrong - it is historical fiction about the time Lincoln lived but the connections were sparse. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the read.

What a historical delight this was! Even though, this reader is a huge Abe Lincoln fan, anyone with the slightest interest in history will thoroughly enjoy reading it! I've read so much about Lincoln (have even put flowers on his grave... yes, I'm that big of a fan), there were new details that I either had never heard or had long forgotten.

And one thing I really liked is that Mary Lincoln is portrayed as intelligent, kind, a supportive wife and SANE! Unlike so many characterizations I have heard and read of her. Who are we to know? While the story focuses on Lincoln and his emancipation goals and achievements, the main character is a young girl named Ana who worked in the Lincoln home when the boys were little.

Hats off to the author, Nancy Horan, for the tons of research she must have undertaken to include so many details, such as Lincoln's writings and speeches. And thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read it. Totally recommend! Oh, and one interesting thing is that I read most of it on June Nineteenth which made the new holiday even more memorable.

This was such a vivid and captivating book! I could not put it down. It was clearly very well researched and I will have to keep this author on my radar for future books.

As someone who has always been fascinated in Lincoln's life I found this book a fun read. It is told primarily from Ana's perspective. A young maid in his household. This book is jam packed with history and I learned a ton! I will say there were times that I felt there was almost too much history for a fiction book, but it was fascinating. It was probably a 3.5 read for me.

Love this author but I have to be honest during the first 30% I almost DNF but I am so glad I didn't because it took off. A really different look at Lincoln's rise to President and fight for the freedom of black Americans. It focuses more on those around him. So interesting if you like history.
#sourcebook #Netgalley #nancyhoran

Nancy Horan is a masterclass in developing vibrant, complicated characters out of the pages of history. In The House of Lincoln, we meet Ana, a fourteen year old servant to the Lincolns, all the way from her home of Madeira Portugal. Ana experiences the strife of a broken country, all while trying to navigate the complex waters she finds herself in, alongside her friend Cal.

Sure to be loved by fans of historical fiction and great character studies.

Nancy Horan writes amazing historical fiction. As she did with Loving Frank, she makes both the fictional and non fictional characters come alive, jumping off the page as we relive key events in their lives. Well researched, and with a fascinating intertwining of fictional and non-fictional lives, the author has given us a unique look a the Lincoln presidency, the civil war, and the horror of slavery with its ongoing aftermath. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced reader copy.

I don't see myself giving Nancy Horan less than 5 stars for any of her novels, ever.
If you are a history buff, her novels can not be beat. They are researched down to the day and what they wore. And being I have studied Lincoln, knew of this story but not in much detail. As it is obvious why history needed to 'sugar coat' that our founding fathers did some things we see in a different light.
We need authors such as Nancy Horan to shine a light on historical figures in all their glory but also let us know how they really lived. And there are the people who will 'cancel' Lincoln, but the truth is what kind of Life would Ana have had without the Lincolns?

The House of Lincoln provides readers with a glimpse of the rise of Abraham Lincoln from the eyes of an immigrant girl as she arrives in Springfield, Illinois. I enjoyed the characters provided by Nancy Horan and their introspections on ideas of the time period as it involves racial inequalities. The book is well researched and because of this it at times falls off narrative and becomes more of a history lesson. Overall, I enjoyed this book. I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own. 3.5 stars

An enjoyable and informative book that shows much about Lincoln and his family before he became president. Much is also learned about the city of Springfield, Ill and its inhabitants. The book is well written and should be enjoyed by many especially those who read historical fiction

This is the story of the rise of Abraham Lincoln, told through the eyes of Ana, a young immigrant who works in the Lincoln household. It's rich in historical detail and a fascinating read.

This is my first fictional story about Abe Lincoln, but I really enjoyed learning about the time period and the man behind the presidency. The characters were really developed and I like that some of them were based on real people.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This story was fantastically done. The book follows a young woman, Ana, who works in the Lincoln home, as well as a few various individuals who are affected by slavery. The story takes place in Springfield, before Abraham Lincoln is elected to the presidency. The characters were very well-written, and the story was very relatable even though it took place almost two centuries ago. I highly enjoyed the insight of women's positions in society at that time as well as the fact that clearly women have come a long way but at that point still had wishes, dreams, and the hope to become educated. The story was beautiful as well because it highlighted Mary Todd Lincoln who I now see was somewhat misunderstood for struggles with mental health.

I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys good historical fiction that is well-written, relatable, and is clearly well-researched.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My sentiments towards this book are rather mixed. While I did derive enjoyment from the main character's journey and found the author's adeptness at portraying the setting and seamlessly interweaving historical facts with the fictional narrative to be truly intriguing, there were instances where the abundance of factual information became overwhelming. At times, it felt as though I was reading a history book rather than experiencing a cohesive story, prompting me to skim through certain pages. Nevertheless, the desire to witness the resolution of the main character's tale kept me engaged, and I did find myself empathizing with certain situations portrayed.

Although historical fiction is not my primary genre of choice, the premise of this book managed to capture my interest, and I must admit that it delivered a solid reading experience. If historical fiction happens to be your preferred genre, this book is likely to rank among your favorites.

This book was very interesting! I learned a lot about race relations in Springfield that I was unaware of. This book was thoroughly researched. It did seem a bit long and descriptive in some places.

The central figure in this historical novel is Ana, a Portuguese teenager who, with her family escaped religious persecution in Madiera, to Trinidad where they worked as slaves, then to Springfield IL when Lincoln was a young lawyer. The book spans about 60 yrs and we see Ana's growth from a young maid and mother's helper to Mary Todd Lincoln to the devoted wife of a Civil War Veteran with PTSD, and an observer of race relations in the US and in her town.
The book show how history impacted the lives of Americans (immigrants, slaves, whites, blacks) from another perspective which we are often unaware of. As Always, Nancy Horan's research is impeccable and she brings into play the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the White House years, the devastation of Mary Lincoln over the death of their son, the assassination of The President, and the ensuing years back in Springfield.
There were several political passages in the book which served to highlight the divisiveness of the time, and I found them to be a little too detailed, although they were well written. I liked the structure of the book especially the relationship between Cal and Ana - and I was saddened by the change in their friendship when Cal went to Chicago as a milliner's apprentice. Ana's relationship with her husband was just beautiful and Horan described their mutual love and respect in realistic terms.
I received a complementary ARC of this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks and the opinions expressed are my own.

This wasn't interesting go account girl name ANA FERR EIA who lived in Springfield Illinois. The time when Lincoln was. In Was living there. Her family had to leave madeira because they had prosecution of their religion. She was a headstrong girl and she made friends with the girl named c a l who was black and her parents didn't really want her to play with this girl. This was an interesting book because they took facts in history and put it together and how this impact of the girl's lives. They talked about the underground railroad and How c a l helped with that as well. They told different stories and how these black people were treated even if they were free.. ANA start to work in Lincoln's house. I've been made and she became very good friends with Mary. His wife and she learned a lot because she always read newspapers and she kept up everything. She also married and she had a very happy life until the civil war and her husband was set off to fight. CAL went to Chicago to start making hats because she felt she had more freedom there than in Spring. Field. It was interesting how things started to evolve when you want to become president of the United States and you can see how Lincoln was always struggling with the freedom. Issue of the slavery's. I like how it was told to the eyes of 2 young girls and how they witnessed history and how they participated in it.. And how people changed after the war some people were bitter and some people had a lot of emotional problems especially her husband but anna presaled. It was interesting how they got a library going in this town she felt that was very important.

After having read Nancy Horan’s earlier historic novels focused on Frank Lloyd Wright and Robert Louis Stevenson (Loving Frank and Under the Wide and Starry Sky), I looked forward to reading The House of Lincoln. Like the earlier books, which are about much more that Wright and Stevenson, the latest is about far more than Lincoln, the Midwestern lawyer turned President during a time of national divisiveness. It’s about his homes—one in Springfield, Illinois and the other the White House—and about the people around him—his wife, his children, and Ana, a Portuguese immigrant. It’s also about how the nation evolved or failed to evolve between 1851 and 1909, the years Horan covers in the novel.

Because the story of Lincoln’s rise from obscurity to his assassination by John Wilkes Booth is so well known, I was drawn to the stories of Ana Ferriera and Cal Patterson From a Portuguese Presbyterian family who fled Catholic Portugal and settled in Little Madeira, a Springfield neighborhood, Anna was the first in the family to learn English and to assimilate into American life, obtaining a job assisting Mary Todd Lincoln with household chores. Anna also met Cal, who through their friendship, introduced Anna to Springfield’s African American history, including the local Underground Railroad run by free blacks. Lest readers falsely assume Illinois sympathized with its black citizens, Horan quickly dispels that notion by including white supremacist groups such as the KKK as well as Springfield’s 1908 race riot. All that said, the average reader will also learn much about Lincoln, the man.

Horan’s short but interesting Afterword explains how she based several characters on historical family members or collective groups living in Springfield and appearing in historical records.
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance reader copy.

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Pretty slow but that’s how I envision life in these times so it for, but I just think this book would have been better received as a winter release, when life has slowed down. I’d love to get into this one when I’m sitting by the fire! Really well researched, I’ll give it another try in a slower season of life!