Louis Bayard is known for his works of speculative historical fiction. Courting Mr. Lincoln, his novel which was published in 2019 and about the courtship between Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln, is one of the author's most recent (and most celebrated) works. Bayard takes readers to winter 1840, when Mary Todd and Abraham first meet in Springfield, Illinois. When the two meet, Mary Todd finds him to be a mystery, and no one is even thinking of Abraham becoming President of the U.S. Abraham seemingly has nothing going for him. But Mary Todd quickly falls in love with Abraham's wit, his profoundness, and his kindness. Ultimately, they get married and love each other despite going through hard times.
When it was published, Courting Mr. Lincoln received mostly positive reviews. Kirkus Reviews did not like that the novel did not have much action, but was impressed with "Bayard’s skilled hands" and his ability to make "three complicated people groping toward a new phase in their lives is all the plot you need." The New York Journal of Books felt more warmly towards the book, writing in the review of the novel that Bayard's novel is "Filled with rich historical detail and compulsively readable."
