Publication date:
June 6, 2023
NetGalley
Sourcebook Landmark
352 pages
Historical fiction, Civil war, digital,
8/11/23-8/16/23
The novel begins in 1909 where Ana Ferreira is attending a birthday celebration of Abraham Lincoln. This is just a year after the Springfield Race Riot in 1908, where mass racial violence was committed against African-Americans in Illinois. This riot was a catalyst for the formation of the NAACP, which organized to work on civil rights of African Americans. A white angry mob protesting the suspected assault on a white woman by a black man erupted into violence. The story proceeds to describe the journey of Ana Ferreira and her family from Madeira, Portugal to Springfield, Illinois in 1849.
Ana was only 9 years-old when her family escaped religious persecution in Madeira, Portugal. Emmanuel and Genoveva Ferreira settled in a small Portuguese refugee community in Springfield, IL with their children Beatriz, Ana and Joao. In Portugal, the Catholics terrorized the Presbyterian converts forcing them to flee. Ana makes friends with Callie Patterson, a free black girl who still endures prejudice in her daily life which Ana finds confusing. In 1851, Ana goes to work at the age of 14 to work for Mary Todd Lincoln helping to care for her children Tad and Willie since her husband Abe traveled a lot. He was a lawyer and politician who eventually became the 16th and first Republican President of the USA.
The author relies on historical facts to present her perspective of what it was like to work in the House of Lincoln. This is presented from the view of Ana experiencing everyday life during the tumultuous time before the American Civil War outbreak in 1861. Ana learned about slavery and racial prejudice from her friendship with Callie which wasn't too different from the religious prejudice from which her family fled. This is a good read for history fanatics looking for a more personal "view" of what it might have been like during this time period.
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