Kate Chase Sprague was born in 1840 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the second daughter to the second wife of a devout but ambitious lawyer. Her father, Salmon P. Chase, rose to prominence in the antebellum years and was appointed secretary of the treasury in Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet, while aspiring to even greater heights.
Beautiful, intelligent, regal, and entrancing, young Kate Chase stepped into the role of establishing her thrice-widowed father in Washington society and as a future presidential candidate. Her efforts were successful enough that The Washington Star declared her “the most brilliant woman of her day. None outshone her.”
None, that is, but Mary Todd Lincoln. Though Mrs. Lincoln and her young rival held much in common—political acumen, love of country, and a resolute determination to help the men they loved achieve greatness—they could never be friends, for the success of one could come only at the expense of the other. When Kate Chase married William Sprague, the wealthy young governor of Rhode Island, it was widely regarded as the pinnacle of Washington society weddings. President Lincoln was in attendance. The First Lady was not.
Jennifer Chiaverini excels at chronicling the lives of extraordinary yet little known women through historical fiction. What she did for Elizabeth Keckley in Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker and for Elizabeth Van Lew in The Spymistress she does for Kate Chase Sprague in Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival.
My Thoughts:
I love books with strong female characters and Kate Chase fits the bill. Her father is widowed for the third time and his daughter, Kate takes over the role of a wife, as far as helping him with his presence in Washington Society.
Kate organizes dinners to help her father’s political efforts and goes with him to political functions. She always gives her opinions and advise to her father and he often takes her advice. She is quite savvy in politics. Though he wasn’t able to get elected as president, as he had hoped, he was Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of treasury. In part, due to Kate.
Though Kate and Mrs. Lincoln had much in common, they were not friends but rivals.
I believe if Kate was alive today she would be a successful female politician! Instead she falls into the same fate as most women of her time. She is expected to marry, raise a family and tolerate her husbands’ mistreatment.
Though I did enjoy the book, some of it became a bit repetitive and tiresome. I think some of the book could have been tightened up with some more editing. Some parts of the book really captured my attention yet some, I just wanted to end.
I am glad I read ‘Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival’ to get to know who Kate Chase Sprague was in U.S. history.
3/5
I received the ebook version for my honest review.
About Jennifer Chiaverini:
Jennifer Chiaverini is the author of ten Elm Creek Quilts novels and An Elm Creek Quilts Sampler and An Elm Creek Quilts Album, as well as Elm Creek Quilts and Return to Elm Creek, two collections of quilt projects inspired by the series, and is the designer of the Elm Creek Quilts fabric lines from Red Rooster fabrics. She lives with her husband and two sons in Madison, Wisconsin.
