Amazon Category:  Historical Fiction Publisher: PublishAmerica ISBN-10:  1592863612 Type: Fiction Pages: 265 Copyright: Jan 1 2003 First Ladies from Martha Washington through Mamie Eisenhower write their chapters - the others chime in. “Ladies….” Is a book a voices. First Ladies between Martha Washington and Mamie Eisenhower tell their own stories – or, to be more exact, whatever they want – in their own words and in their own styles. “Ladies….” Crosses boundaries between fact, conjecture and, most importantly, centuries. Through dialogue-boxes, the Ladies talk to each other across Eternity, where anything is possible. The Modern First Ladies, from Mrs. Kennedy through Mrs. Clinton participate in commentary. They talk to the reader and they talk amongst themselves. And they sympathize, empathize and quarrel amongst themselves. They talk about their husbands, and their children, and the White House, and the times they lived in. And, of course, politics.       Excerpt MARY TODD LINCOLN 1818-82 First Lady: 1860-1865 I have no secrets. How could I? Every moment of my life has been analyzed, scrutinized and criticized. More has been written about me than any First Lady except Eleanor Roosevelt. And now that Mrs. Kennedy is with us in eternity, I suppose history will have its way with her, too, poor thing. When you have a strong personality instead of a submissive, compliant one, you are bound to make enemies, and further bound to have people slant information the wrong way. There are dozens of books purporting to define my life. All of them are correct, and all of them are wrong. Like the Blind Men and the Elephant. But I thank Lucy Hayes and Caroline Harrison for this opportunity to set the record straight on several issues. I was born into a prominent Kentucky family in December, 1818. The Todds were well known throughout the State, and counted no less a figure than Henry Clay as a close personal friend. I was a Kentucky belle, educated at a fine finishing school. When I was twenty, I paid an extended visit to my sister in Springfield, Illinois, where I met Abraham Lincoln, among other suitors. We married in 1841, had four sons, one died as a babe. We prospered. Mr. Lincoln was elected President. We moved to the White House, fought and won a terrible War, and he was assassinated. I fell apart. Those are the true facts of my life. Now, to correct the fallacies, the lies, the rumors and the gossip. First: I was not nearly as “plump” as people think. I had a round face and a short neck, and with those enormous hoop skirts of the 1860’s, I probably looked like a bubble. I was five-foot-three inches tall, and at my very heaviest, four children notwithstanding, weighed, maybe 130 pounds. Maybe. I was short-waisted, but I had slim hips and long legs for my height. People today would say I was an “apple” rather than a “pear.” Julia Grant outdid me by at least forty or fifty pounds.

Reviewed by Denise M. Clark – August 2003 for
When we are young, we are taught to memorize the Presidents of the United States. A good lesson to be sure - on leadership, dedication and loyalty. But there is also a famous phrase… “Behind every good man is a good woman.” This is certainly true when one opens the table of contents to ‘Ladies’. How many of us know the First Wives? Sure, we know a few, but it is usually only a handful and the lady comes from relatively recent history. Well, goodbye ignorance and welcome to a unique, refreshing and witty compilation of vignettes that will introduce the reader to the inner thoughts, hopes and dreams of every First Lady, from Martha Washington to Mamie Eisenhower. After all, claims the author, First Ladies from Jacqueline Kennedy to Laura Bush have the media at their disposal 24/7.
Beginning with a delightful introduction by Lucy Hayes, the reader is thoroughly and enchantingly captures by author Foster’s unusual narrative… sometimes wicked, sometimes gentle, but never, ever boring. This reader highly recommends this book for everyone, male or female, to learn a little history, a lot of early Americana culture, and a bevy of laughs.
Still, serious subject matters are discussed in this fictional yet very true to historical fact collection of comments, reminiscences and memories. Each chapter tells the viewpoint of a First lady and is dotted with comments from the others… as if the reader is present at a tea party in heaven. These women talk about their private lives, politics, the customs of the time and how they relate to their everyday lives, and also a present a view of what women felt and believed during the days of their youth and beyond.
Ladies: A Conjecture of Personalities is a rare treat. Go ahead and indulge. One need not feel guilty for delving too deeply into the pages of this book, which is definitely an extremely pleasant and deeply satisfying read!




Dr. Alma Bond, reviewer for www.rebeccasreads.com
When I first picked up A Conjecture of Personalities, I didn't expect too
much. I thought, "how can anyone take seriously a writer whose first name is
Feather?" I was wrong. As I got into the book, I found myself enjoying it. By
the time it was finished, I loved it! I found out that Feather Schwartz Foster
is no lightweight, but a serious historical scholar with a terrific sense of
humor! The name is a ruse, I decided, to throw us off the truth and disguise
her true identity. Fortunately, I was not fooled for long.
"Ladies..." is a work of fiction. It is purely conjecture, but based on
historical fact; a book of voices that were seldom heard during their lifetimes
and have been submerged in historical neglect. Ms. Foster has attempted in
her own inimitable manner to bring them back from oblivion. Each Lady has her
say, with others contributing their thoughts in dialog boxes, as topics arise
that interest them. It is an original and clever way of bringing together
isolated historical facts. Foster has tried (and succeeded at) giving readers a
portrait of the uniqueness of these women, their individual styles, and their
distinctive ways of expressing themselves. Seventeen ladies lost children, four
had husbands who were assassinated, another five had assassinations. It is
interesting to read how the ladies handled these tragedies. Some dwelt on them,
some glossed them over, and some avoided the references entirely. For example, a
few, like Jane Apppleton Pierce and Mary Todd Lincoln, never recovered from
their grief, while others, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, used the tragedies in
their lives as impetus for further development.
The book brings to life all the First Ladies between Martha Washington
and Mamie Eisenhower, and throws in comments by modern First Ladies from Mrs.
Kennedy through Mrs. Clinton for good measure. Except for a few beloved First
Ladies, i.e. Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Roosevelt, I, for one, knew very little about
them. Foster's book has changed that. Each lady speaks in her own voice, so
that one often knows which one is speaking without being told. It is quite a
tour de force on the part of Ms. Foster to develop 29 major characters along
with the modern First Ladies whose voices are heard only in their comments,
without having them mixed up in the minds of the readers.
What a delightful way to learn history! For example, I learned that the
White House used to be open house for any "well-behaved, properly dressed
people" who wanted to drop into "the President's house" and chat. This continued
until Hoover's election in 1929, when the White House became too unwieldy and
posed serious security problems. According to "Lou Hoover," they then ended all
"open houses." The "good old days" had something to say for themselves.
Speaking of Lou Henry Hoover, I never had the slightest interest in her,
and couldn't have told you her first name. To my surprise, I discovered that
she was an educated woman, a serious scholar, and one easily able to handle all
the ceremonial and functional duties that most of the other Ladies whined
about. She was graduated from Stanford University as a degreed geologist, at a
time when few women went to college. Hoover was a mining engineer and traveled
all over the world to practice his profession Lou went along with two babies in
tow, and helped him in his work, drafting reports and analyses for him. She
became the intermediary for the "native" contractors, making sure things were
done promptly, properly, and as inexpensively as possible. . Later she
translated an ancient mining treatise from its original Latin. The book was published
and actually became a "best seller!" Although both of their names were listed
as co-authors, she had done most of the work. So he "let" her keep the
royalties. During the war, the Germans had decimated Belgium. Lou went on a speaking
tour of the United States and raised more than $200.000 - in 1916! The Hoovers
made an excellent team and established a true partnership. Lou Hoover is
someone I would have liked to have known. I never cared much for Herbert Hoover,
but reading about his warm and successful marriage made me think he couldn't
have been all that bad.
Another interesting relatively unknown First Lady was Grace Goodhue
Coolidge. Most of us knew that Calvin Coolidge was a taciturn, silent man, but I
had not realized that he probably wouldn't have gotten elected if his vivacious,
outgoing wife had not been so loved by his constituents. "Where Calvin was
dour," she ‘said,' "I smiled; where he was taciturn, I was loquacious; where he
was ill-at-ease, I exuded the confidence of a person with absolutely no
agenda. And where he was ‘Calvin Who?' I was that delightful Mrs. Coolidge." She
lived on quietly in Northampton, Massachusetts for nearly thirty years after her
husband died. His death freed her to try new things. She flew in an airplane,
went to Europe, spent time with her son and his family, revived an old
interest in the hard-of-hearing and became a trustee for the Clarke School. She lived
every day optimistically, pleasantly, and as productively as her health
allowed. She sounds like a delightful person, in contrast to her "dour" husband.
Perhaps the most revealing story is that of Mary Todd Lincoln. It is a
"known fact" of history that Mrs. Lincoln was insane. This book casts doubt upon
that verdict. She is also remembered as quite plump. That is not correct.
Although she had a round face, she was five feet three inches tall and at her
heaviest weighed 130 pounds. She suffered from terrible migraine headaches, and
she did have a temper. Also she liked to shop. None of which sounds like
psychosis, or many more of us would be considered crazy. After her husband was
murdered, life as Mrs. Lincoln knew it was over. She had two surviving sons, Robert
and Tad. Robert had to assume full responsibility for the funeral, when his
mother, unlike Mrs. Kennedy in similar circumstances, took to her bed. That's
when he stopped being the "son" and became the "father". When he married, the
women didn't get along, and Mary and Robert became estranged. Her emotional
health, which always had been frail, deteriorated even more. The story that most
often is told to prove her incompetency is the following: One night, when she
was staying alone in a Chicago hotel, she heard a noise outside of her rooms,
so she opened her door to check it out. She was wearing her nightgown and a
shawl. Robert was notified and decided that she was "exposing herself in a near
state of undress." This was deemed of sufficient cause to have her put away in
a private sanitarium. She says, "What was I supposed to do? Quickly put on my
corset and crinolines and finest ball gown to open the door and investigate?"
After she was pronounced "cured," she spent her remaining days with her
sister, waiting for death to unite her with her loved ones.
Mrs. Lincoln ballyhoos another well-known story in the book. It is
generally believed that President Lincoln spent his life yearning for a purported
"lost love" with an Ann Rutledge. Ms. Foster, in the guise of Mrs. Lincoln, says
that Rutledge never even existed, or if she did, was merely a passing
acquaintance of no significance.
"And that's the truth," comments Mrs. Lincoln, in ending her story.
I have read another First Ladies book, "America's First Ladies," by Betty
Boyd Caroli. It is a coffee table book, with sumptuous photographs that are
lovely to look at. Yet I much prefer the less pretentious "A Conjecture of
Personalities," by Feather Schwartz Foster. It is clever, original, interesting,
and even humorous in spots, and left me feeling that I had learned a great
deal about our First Ladies in a most pleasant manner. The book is recommended
for all who like biography, history, mild humor, and clever writing.

More from Feather Schwartz Foster:
After spending three decades in advertising and public relations, and writing
more than a dozen children's musicals, Feather Schwartz Foster has put her
long-time hobby as a presidential historian to productive use, drawing on a
personal library of more than 1000 president-related volumes.