Stephen Harrigan Knihy

The novel begins in 1832 during the Black Hawk War, where Micajah (Cage) Weatherby meets Lincoln. Afterward, Cage moves to Springfield, Illinois, joining a group of ambitious young men, including Lincoln, in this burgeoning frontier town. Through Cage, we learn about Lincoln in his twenties and thirties, a circuit-riding lawyer and state legislator driven by immense ambition. To Cage and his peers—Joshua Speed, Billy Herndon, Ninian Edwards, Stephen Douglas, and Jim Reed—Lincoln is a beloved figure, both powerful and charmingly awkward, a gifted storyteller whose potential they all recognize. Cage, a poet, admires Lincoln but often clashes with him, particularly over Lincoln’s legal ethics, as he takes on controversial cases, including a murderer's defense and clients on both sides of the slavery debate. While navigating his own tumultuous affair with an independent widow, Cage observes Lincoln's journey through high spirits and deep sadness, marked by bouts of depression. The narrative also explores Lincoln's challenging courtship of another Mary and his eventual marriage to the politically astute Mary Todd. By 1847, Mary has given Lincoln a son and some stability, though this creates conflict with Cage, steering them onto diverging paths.