Savage Conversations

By: LeAnne Howe

Narrated by: Linda Henning, Ed Bourgeois, Archie Montgomery

Length: 1 hr and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

May 1875: Mary Todd Lincoln is addicted to opiates and tried in a Chicago court on charges of insanity. Entered into evidence is Ms. Lincoln’s claim that every night a Savage Indian enters her bedroom and slashes her face and scalp. She is swiftly committed to Bellevue Place Sanitarium. Her hauntings may be a reminder that in 1862, President Lincoln ordered the hanging of 38 Dakotas in the largest mass execution in United States history. No one has ever linked the two events - until now.

Savage Conversations is a daring account of a former first lady and the ghosts that tormented her for the contradictions and crimes on which this nation is founded.

©2019 LeAnne Howe (P)2021 Scribd Audio

The Madness of Guilt

3.75 stars would be closer to accurate on this very short book by LeAnne Howe but I'm rounding up for the sheer ingenuity of this telling. I thought the concept of this book was so intriguing I found it, downloaded it, and sat in my car and listened to it in one sitting. To be fair, it is super short. But the idea that the former First Lady, Mary Todd Lincoln's madness could be linked to the guilt she felt about what was happening to the Indigenous people at that time just hooked me from the beginning. To be honest, though, the story lost some of it's punch after the forward. Part of the problem for me was that the introduction by Susan Power actually gives you the entire story summarized in just a few pages and her summarization is simple and easy to understand. So, it was like hearing the whole story again as you listen to the book, although the audio version has unique creepy vibe and is really well produced. The book is a wildly imagined (albeit somewhat historically accurate) account of Mary Todd Lincoln after Lincoln's death when her mental illness is being played out nightly in the sanitorium where she has been committed by her son. The author takes bits and threads of facts like Mary Lincoln's documented reports that she was being visited by an "Indian" at night who tortured her and sews these scraps together with major historical events like the mass execution of 38 Dakota men in Mankato, Minnesota the day after Christmas in 1862. The result is one bewitching piece of work. The author cleverly ties the two events (Mary's nightmares and the execution) together in such a captivating and creepy way that you will be on a deep dive to find all evidence to support this truth once you entertain it. This book is super short and you can read it on your lunch break, but I recommend going in as blind as you can to get the full effect. The audio version includes the drumbeat of the Dakota at the end and is just about the most chilling thing I've ever heard. Really well done.