Writer-in-residence Adam Braver revisits his inspiration and writing process for his 2009 novel, Mr. Lincoln’s Wars, as part of traveling Lincoln exhibition at RWU Library

Wojtanowski, Alexandria

English

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Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger11-7-2014Novelist Examines the Private Life of a PublicFigure with Abraham LincolnAlexandria WojtanowskiRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationWojtanowski, Alexandria, "Novelist Examines the Private Life of a Public Figure with Abraham Lincoln" (2014). Featured News Story.441.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/441 News ArchiveNovelist Examines the Private Life of a PublicFigure with Abraham LincolnWriter-in-residence Adam Braver revisits his inspiration and writing process forhis 2009 novel, Mr. Lincoln’s Wars, as part of traveling Lincoln exhibition at RWULibraryNovember 7, 2014 Alexandria Wojtanowski ’15BRISTOL, R.I. – A scene in a children’s novel describing President Abraham Lincoln taking o  hisshoes and exclaiming to his wife Mary about having “to let the dogs breathe”  rst captured AdamBraver’s imagination as a young boy – and stayed with him later in life as he ventured into a writingcareer. Braver, a professor of creative writing and the University Library’s writer-in-residence, recallshow Barbara Cary’s 1965 Meet Abraham Lincoln awakened a curious concept in him – one that hedecided to explore in novels:  thinking about legendary public  gures in human terms.This theme, which  rst inspired Braver to take on novel-writing with Mr. Lincoln’s Wars (2009), thenpercolated into a motif investigated in four more novels, he explained in a presentation in the“Talking in the Library” series that complemented a national traveling exhibition, Lincoln: TheConstitution and the Civil War, on display at the library throughout October. The scene from Cary’sbook also directly in uenced the opening scenes of Mr. Lincoln’s Wars, Braver said, which depictsLincoln sitting down with his shoes o  “as a way to sort of pull him o -stage.”   For Braver, this thematic journey is rooted in the concept that “writers are constantly inconversations with themselves – re ning their ideas and working them out as though they’ll  ndsome sort of philosophical proof (to the meaning behind the human condition).” The  conversationhe’s been having with himself in his novels? What is private life to a public  gure?Taking up that idea via Lincoln was an easy decision – Braver has cultivated a long-time fascinationwith the abolitionist president, and now he was prepared to pore over the mystery of Lincoln’sprivate life. He explored the idea imaginatively and, “as many a historian has pointed out,” henoted, took liberties with the facts. With  ction, Braver said, there’s the world we live in and adi erent world between a book’s covers – and he was more interested in the latter.In Mr. Lincoln’s Wars, Braver explained that he used Lincoln as a template to explore humanexistence: “The character of Lincoln was less interesting to me than the issues about consciousnessand being human during that time.” For example, he found it compelling to examine how heimagined Lincoln dealt with a private tragedy, his son’s death, within the public sphere – all whilehandling a raging war.Another element Braver aimed for was to make the story of Lincoln feel contemporary. “I didn’t wantit to feel like a sepia-toned photograph of Lincoln nor did I want it to feel like it was a veiled way toteach history,” he said, adding that he made this a story about people, which meant having thelicense to go “o -the-record” at times. In addition to discussing his writing process, Braver read selections from his novel, including "On tothe Next Field," a chapter that features Lincoln on the battle eld. In that chapter, Lincoln holds ayoung soldier’s hand while a physician chops o  the boy’s leg. When the soldier asks what it’s liketo be president, Lincoln answers that "It's like  ghting a thousand wars.”An audience member noted that Lincoln, as a historical  gure, is known as a man of great speechesand decisiveness, but the Lincoln in Braver’s book o en seems at a loss for words. “Where did you nd this man?” he asked Braver.Braver explained that he was not endeavoring to re-write Lincoln as a new man, rather attempting toillustrate how Lincoln may have reacted as a person in di cult situations. Because his book was amythical examination of a legendary man, Braver said he honed in less on what he knew of Lincoln’sactual actions and strove to create a sense of how anyone would feel in similar situations.“I think emotions are universal,” he said. “I don’t think Lincoln grieved any di erently than youwould grieve or I would grieve.”

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Novelist Examines the Private Life of a Public Figure with Abraham Lincoln

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