Karen Joy Fowler

From the Man Booker finalist and bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves comes an epic and intimate novel about the family behind one of the most infamous figures in American history: John Wilkes Booth.

In 1822, a secret family moves into a secret cabin some thirty miles northeast of Baltimore, to farm, to hide, and to bear ten children over the course of the next sixteen years. Junius Booth—breadwinner, celebrated Shakespearean actor, and master of the house in more ways than one—is at once a mesmerizing talent and a man of terrifying instability. One by one the children arrive, as year by year, the country draws frighteningly closer to the boiling point of secession and civil war.
 
As the tenor of the world shifts, the Booths emerge from their hidden lives to cement their place as one of the country’s leading theatrical families. But behind the curtains of the many stages they have graced, multiple scandals, family triumphs, and criminal disasters begin to take their toll, and the solemn siblings of John Wilkes Booth are left to reckon with the truth behind the destructively specious promise of an early prophecy.
 
Booth is a startling portrait of a country in the throes of change and a vivid exploration of the ties that make, and break, a family.

Booth

From the Man Booker finalist and bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves comes an epic novel about the family behind one of the most infamous figures in American history: John Wilkes Booth. In 1822, a secret family moves into a secret cabin some thirty miles northeast of Baltimore, to farm, to hide, and to bear ten children over the course of the next 16 years. Junius Booth--breadwinner, celebrated Shakespearean actor and master of the house in all ways--is at once a mesmerizing talent and a man of terrifying instability. One by one the children arrive, as year by year, the country draws closer to the boiling point of secession and civil war. As the children grow and the tenor of the world shifts, the Booths cement their place as one of the country's leading theatrical families. But behind the curtains of the many stages they have graced, multiple scandals, family triumphs, and disasters begin to take their toll. A startling portrait of a country in the throes of change and a vivid exploration of brother- and sisterhood, Booth is a riveting historical novel focused on the very things that bind, and break, a family.

Mia Caven

Very good book. I’m a dumbass and didn’t know this was a based on a real story and real people but I enjoyed it so much regardless. The way of her writing was new, and intriguing. I thoroughly liked this book

erin s

Booth is not a story about John Wilkes Booth. Instead, it follows the entire Booth family, from its troubled patriarch, the heralded stage actor Junius, to the eldest surviving child, the quiet spinster Rosalie, to the stubborn and beautiful Asia, to the passionate Edwin struggling to assert himself as heir to his father’s theatrical legacy. 

John is just one of the many characters in this story, a volatile, handsome young man loved fiercely by his siblings even when he begins to fall from grace. Repudiating his father’s tolerant views and his family’s loyalty to the Union, John steeps himself in sympathy to the Southern cause, while the rest of his siblings wrestle with their own changing affections, burgeoning careers, blossoming families, and decades-old sorrows. 

Karen Joy Fowler creates an unconventional structure to the story, sprinkling vignettes of Lincoln alongside scenes from the Booths’ lives. There are moments where the text skips into the future and back again into its present, the narrative adopting a meandering, omnipresent quality as the Booth family endures both tragedies and triumphs. 

3.5/5: A unique work of historical fiction that humanizes the infamous family and JWB himself without eulogizing or excusing his actions. It was a bit too slow-paced for me, partly because I knew it was heading for the inevitable conclusion of the assassination. Some characters are more compelling than others, but each of the Booths manage to emerge as holistic individuals rather than caricatured or hollow interpretations. Booth is more a collection of musings on the concept of family than a straight-forward historical fiction novel, something that is likely to appeal to many readers. I found myself seeking something more solid and structured, but I also appreciated the creative and measured approach to such a tricky historical subject.

 Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Booth

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