Hanging Mary by Susan Higgenbotham

This is the story of Mary Surratt who ran the boarding house where the men, including her son, were involved in the assassination of President Lincoln. The story is told from Mary, her daughter Anna and a young woman who was a boarder in the house. The voices are very different but it is from Mary that we learn the most. She was left in debt and needed to make money in Washington D.C. which did not suffer people who were sympathetic with the South. Her son, whom she doted on, was a Southern sympathizer and hated the President for keeping us in a war so she turned a blind eye to what was going on. Her daughter was in love with the charismatic actor Booth and hated the President. Was Mary in on the plot? You are the judge, but her punishment was considered harsh by many there. It is an interesting perspective on what the political climate was like and life for a single woman in a Northern city fighting a war that they felt was not of their choosing. For fans of "Mrs. LIncoln's Dressmaker".