The Costco Connection - January 2014

Signed bookgiveaway

By Judi Ketteler

JENNIFER CHIAVERINI HAS always been a student of history. Which means that she has long been aware of the stories that don’t make it into the record or don’t get taught much.

“History isn’t just what legislators
were doing, but also what the shop-
keepers were doing and the mothers
of young children were doing,” says
the Costco member and author of the
New York Times best-seller Mrs.
Lincoln’s Dressmaker. “To me, that is
just as intriguing and important.”
Those stories have become rich
material for Chiaverini’s historical fic-
tion. Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker tells
the story of Elizabeth Keckley, a free
black woman who was Mary Todd
Lincoln’s dressmaker during the Civil
War years. “She was born into slavery, and just with
the gifts of her own creativity and imagination and
talent and hard work, she managed to obtain her
freedom and her son’s freedom, and eventually
became the dressmaker to the elite in Washington,
D.C.,” says Chiaverini from her home in Wisconsin.
Mary Lincoln hired Keckley as her personal dress-
maker in 1861, and she became a true confidante to
Mrs. Lincoln during the tumultuous war years.

Chiaverini became aware of Elizabeth Keckley some years ago, and had already been imagining these two women and what their conversations would have been like. But it wasn’t until she was researching another Civil War–era book that she discovered that Keckley had actually written a memoir: Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. “I read it, and I was so fascinated by it. I thought everyone should know about her,” she says.

Behind the Scenes was a fertile resource for Chiaverini, and she tried to use Keckley’s own words and descriptions of things wherever possible. But there were gaps in what Keckley wrote. Some of the workaday details weren’t there. “That is often typical for that era, because these authors were either writing for themselves or for a contemporary audience that would already be familiar with the goings-on of the day,” Chiaverini says. In that way, her curiosity was provoked by what was in the memoir as well as by what wasn’t in it.

She took no license with the historical facts, of course. In fact, the book is tightly researched (Chiaverini clearly did her homework, and Civil When Behind the Scenes came out, it was widely criticized, and even disparaged. However, modern scholars have reclaimed it as an excellent source of information about the Lincoln White House and the Lincoln marriage. “I wish that Elizabeth Keckley would have been able to know that her book would still be in print and finally have the appreciation that it did not have in her own time,” Chiaverini says.

Chiaverini has another Civil War–era tale, Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival, her ninth historical novel, coming out this month. Despite history being one of her great passions, she’s also written many titles in the Elm Creek Quilt series, which stitches together her love of quilting and writing. Chiaverini says that when she first started writing, she simply followed the adage “Write what you know.” An avid quilter, she knew quilting. But in addition to technical knowledge, she wanted to convey the warmth and camaraderie of the quilting community. ( To find out more about the series or to see her fabric designs, visit www.jenniferchiaverini.com.)

While Chiaverini continues to be inspired by
other historical figures, Keckley left a lasting
impression on her. She says, “I hope read-
ers will be as struck as I was by her enor-
mous talent, her clear-sighted yet
compassionate approach to Mary

Lincoln and her unprecedented insight into inner workings of the Lincoln White House.” C

Judi Ketteler (www.judiketteler.
com) has written a book as well as
numerous magazine articles. F R A
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Jennifer Chiaverini

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Pennie Clark Ianniciello, Costco book buyer

Seamstress’s story

COSTCO HAS 50 copies of Jennifer Chiaverini’s Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker with signed bookplates to give away. To enter, just go to Costco.com, search for “JanBookPick”and follow the instructions. Or print your name, address and daytime phone number on a postcard or letter and send it to: Jennifer Chiaverini, The Costco Connection, P.O.

Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088.

NO PURCHASE, PAYMENT OR OPT-IN OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES.

Purchase will not improve odds of winning. S weepstakes is sponsored by Penguin Group, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. Open to legal residents of the U. S. (except Puerto Rico) who are age 18 or older at the time of entry. One entry per household. Entries must be received by February 1, 2014. Winners will be randomly selected and noti;ed by mail on or before March 1, 2014. The value of the prize is $16. Void where prohibited. Winners are responsible for all applicable federal, state and local taxes. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Employees of Costco or Penguin Group and their families are not eligible.

Tablet or smartphone?

Scan or click here to enter the giveaway in our digital newsstand and online editions. (See page 5 for scanning details.)

OVER THE YEARS, I’ve been so blinded by the importance of our 16th president that, until I read this month’s book buyer’s pick, Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, by Jennifer Chiaverini, I gave little thought to Mary Lincoln. And I certainly gave no thought to her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley.

But theirs is a relationship worth reading about. For example, Keckley spent many years as a slave before buying freedom for her son and herself. After meeting Mary Lincoln, Keckley became not only the ;rst lady’s dressmaker, but also her con;dante. And Mary Lincoln, who outlived her husband and three of their sons, is a fascinating woman who battled depression for the last several years of her life. Together, they make for a reading experience that won’t soon be forgotten.