There is no evidence that Lincoln ever read Leaves of Grass, let alone wrote Whitman a letter telling the poet what he thought about it. Had Whitman received a letter from the president, it is likely he would have published it with a future copy of his poems to increase sales, just as he had the factual letter he received from Ralph Waldo Emerson. However, I like to think there could have been such a letter, because I know it would have made Whitman immeasurably happy to have President Lincoln’s approval. Whitman respected and idolized the president, whom he viewed as a savior of the country. When he was working in the hospital in Washington, DC, tending to the wounded during the Civil War, he would often see Lincoln there when he was out walking and the two men would tip their hats to each other.
The works of Walt Whitman can be read many different ways and are open to many interpretations. Everything about the poet was questioned in his lifetime, from his manners to his writing to his sexual orientation. He was a man of paradox, which is why I believe his poetry has withstood the test of time, and I, for one, am grateful that it has.
I took literary license with Whitman’s life for this work of fiction. Any historical mistakes made in the novel are my own.
Also available by Amanda Flower
Magical Bookshop Mysteries
Murders and Metaphors
Prose and Cons
Crime and Poetry
Amis Matchmaker Mysteries
Matchmaking Can Be Murder
Amish Candy Shop Mysteries
Toxic Toffee
Criminally Cocoa
Premeditated Peppermint
Lethal Licorice
Assaulted Caramel
Magic Garden Mysteries
Death and Daisies
Flowers and Foul Play
Living History Museum Mysteries
The Final Vow
The Final Tap
The Final Reveille
Andi Boggs Mysteries
Andi Unstoppable
Andi Under Pressure
Andi Unexpected
Appleseed Creek Mysteries
A Plain Malice
A Plain Scandal
A Plain Death
India Hayes Mysteries
Murder in a Basket
Maid of Murder
Author Biography
Amanda Flower, a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning mystery author, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. She also writes mysteries as USA Today bestselling author Isabella Alan. In addition to being an author, Amanda is a librarian in Northeast Ohio. This is her fourth Magical Bookshop mystery.
This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, organizations, places and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real or actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by Amanda Flower
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crooked Lane Books, an imprint of The Quick Brown Fox & Company LLC.
Crooked Lane Books and its logo are trademarks of The Quick Brown Fox & Company LLC.
Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication data available upon request.
ISBN (hardcover): 978-1-64385-151-8
ISBN (ePub): 978-1-64385-152-5
Cover illustration by Stephen Gardner
Printed in the United States.
www.crookedlanebooks.com
Crooked Lane Books
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First Edition: November 2019
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