American president James Buchanan was no more than a name to me and I'd never heard of Harriet Lane, so a title proclaiming her "America's First Lady" was vastly intriguing to me. What Stern has skillfully managed to do is construct a beautiful portrait of the White House in the mid-1800s. While the book doesn't necessarily read like a novel, the narrative is peppered with excerpts from real letters and articles from the characters involved and creates a rather intimate view of an amazing and volatile period in American history which led up to the Civil War.

The book isn't long enough to drag on or become boring, nor is it so short you come away feeling that you haven't gained anything. In fact, of the 207 pages, only 104 tell the story of Harriet Lane. The remaining pages contain photographs, unabridged personal letters, and citations. The overall effect is a charming and thoroughly enjoyable book that brings to life a time in history that most people cannot imagine. If books like this were assigned reading for history courses in high school and college, I believe far less people would think of history as dull and boring. I highly recommend it.