Join us Thursday, October 19th for a lively discussion with author Nancy Horan. Horan is a New York Times bestselling author of Loving Frank and Under the Wide and Starry Sky, and she is back after nearly a decade with a triumphant new historical novel, The House of Lincoln (June 6, 2023; Hardcover; Landmark). Horan’s latest novel, The House of Lincoln, tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s ascendance from rumpled lawyer to U.S. President to the Great Emancipator through the eyes of a young asylum-seeker, Ana Ferreira, who arrives in Lincoln’s home of Springfield, Illinois from Madeira, Portugal by way of Trinidad. Showing intelligence beyond society’s expectations, Ferreira is given a job in the Lincoln household assisting Mary Lincoln with their boys and begins a lifelong relationship based on mutual admiration. Through her experiences in their home, Ana bears witness to the evolution of Lincoln’s views on equality and The Union and observes in full complexity the psyche and pain of his bold, polarizing wife, Mary.
The House of Lincoln deftly addresses the roots of racism, colorism, and classism in America culminating in an eye-witness account of the Springfield race riot of 1908. With themes that resonate today, this novel celebrates the bravery of the conductors on the Underground Railroad and is a pointed reminder that America’s history of slavery reverberates profoundly today.
Nancy Horan is a native Midwesterner, serving as a teacher and journalist before turning to fiction writing. She lived for 25 years in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, where she raised her two sons. She now lives with her husband on an island in Puget Sound. Find her at nancyhoran.com