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An Unlikely Friendship
by Ann Rinaldi
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The novel follows Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley from sharply different childhoods toward their meeting in wartime Washington. Mary grows up within a politically connected slaveholding family, while Elizabeth endures enslavement, sexual violence and separation before purchasing freedom and building a career as a dressmaker.
Their paths converge in the White House, where Keckley becomes Mary’s modiste, confidante and support through bereavement. Alternating perspectives explore genuine affection without erasing inequality: one woman is judged as the president’s wife, while the other must continually defend her autonomy in a society shaped by slavery and racism.
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