Novelist Peers Into the Intimate Life of Abraham Lincoln

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There is no shortage of books that pay homage to the 16th president of the United States. Even 150 years after his death, writers continue to pen moving portraits of Abraham Lincoln, focusing on historical milestones in his political career, his debilitating depressive episodes, and some even speculating on his sexuality. In the new novel Courting Mr. Lincoln, acclaimed author Louis Bayard recreates two of Lincoln’s most intimate and formative relationships. This subversive novel reconstructs Lincoln’s life between 1839 and 1842 and is told from the alternating viewpoints of Lincoln’s future wife, Mary Todd, and his roommate and bedfellow, Joshua Speed.

Long before he was revered as the “Great Emancipator,” Abraham Lincoln was a struggling lawyer trying to break into Illinois politics. He was also a socially inept but kind bachelor hesitant to tie himself down in marriage. Americans know that he eventually married Lexington socialite Mary Todd, but they may be less familiar with another close acquaintance who has long been rumored to have courted Lincoln, his mentor and confidant, Joshua Speed. At its heart, Courting Mr. Lincoln is an intimate portrayal of this complicated and compassionate romantic triangle. By the end of the novel, who’s courting Lincoln remains a delicious mystery.

Bayard is a New York Times Notable Book author. Like Courting Mr. Lincoln, Bayard’s previous novels have reimagined the lives of such historical figures as Edgar Allan Poe (The Pale Blue Eye) and Theodore Roosevelt (Roosevelt’s Beast) by transporting readers to the past through a masterly told story. Louis Bayard will speak at Boswell Book Co. at 7 p.m., on Thursday, May 2.