Elizabeth Keckley was a woman of remarkable strength, courage, perseverance, and dignity. She was exceptionally talented, but also very diligent and ambitious, and together those qualities enabled her to deliver herself from slavery and become a successful businesswoman. — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
What I would give, I thought, to have been present as Elizabeth Keckley measured Mary Lincoln for a new gown, to overhear their conversations on topics significant and ordinary, to observe the Lincoln White House from such an intimate perspective.… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
“Who said you had to fill his shoes?" said Karen. "Wear your own shoes. They're bound to fit better. Walk your own path your… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
“Her greatest legacy could not be measured in garments or in words, but in the wisdom she had imparted, in the lives made better… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
“The union of their shared lives could be a masterpiece, even if the colors of one piece clashed with another, even if uneven stitches… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
Marvelously entertaining, Gabrielle Donnellys The Little Women Letters evokes the spirit of Louisa May Alcotts Little Women with warmth and affection. I thoroughly enjoyed… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
“Upon reflection, Henry found it difficult to disagree with Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune and frequent critic of the Lincoln administration,… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
Sometimes the most ordinary things are the ones we learn to miss the most. — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
Mary Lincoln provided Elizabeth Keckley with opportunities for social and economic advancement she probably had never imagined during her years as a slave, while… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
Ignorant people, whispering cruel rumors, her mother whispered. Pay them no mind. — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
“of her husband’s cabinet, who had their own ideas for the president’s social calendar. The worst conflict, and the most upsetting for Mrs. Lincoln,… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
“It’s painful to be the one not chosen,” she murmured to Father Ryan, watching the younger pair. “Even when you acknowledge, deep down, that… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
“All people—white and colored, slave and free, Union and Confederate—shared a common humanity belied by their outward differences. In a time of discord, in… — Jennifer Chiaverini Copy Share Image
