Henry and Clara. - book reviews

National Review, Sept 26, 1994 by Karina Rollins

Henry and Clara, by Thomas Mallon (Ticknor & Fields, 358 pp., $22.95)

AS IN previous books, Mr. Mallon blends history and creativity, recreating here the unexplored lives of Clara and Henry Rathbone, the young couple who sat in the box with President and Mrs. Lincoln at Ford's Theater. While doing research on John Wilkes Booth, Mr. Mallon came across references to the Rathbones and decided to pursue their tragic story. He pieced together the history of the couple's lives to form the foundation of this novel, which he then filled with his bright imagination. Raised as stepbrother and stepsister, Henry and Clara fall deeply in love (to their parents' dismay), are befriended by the Lincolns, and are led to events of horror after witnessing the President's murder. Beautifully written, Henry and Clara is marked by tender passion, and its characters are, for all their faults, endearing. But Mr. Mallon shows us the dark side of passion as well, leaving us with a most interesting history lesson, the romance of love, and the thrill of madness.