PublishedSerpent's Tail, March 2022 |
ISBN9781788169677 |
FormatSoftcover, 480 pages |
Dimensions23.2cm × 15cm × 3.6cm |
From the Booker-shortlisted, million-copy bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves comes an epic novel about the infamous, ill-fated Booth family. Charmers, liars, drinkers and dreamers, they will change history forever
Junius is the patriarch, a celebrated Shakespearean actor who fled bigamy charges in England, both a mesmerising talent and a man of terrifying instability. As his children grow up in a remote farmstead in 1830s rural Baltimore, the country draws ever closer to the boiling point of secession and civil war.
Of the six Booth siblings who survive to adulthood, each has their own dreams they must fight to realise - but it is Johnny who makes the terrible decision that will change the course of history - the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Booth is a riveting novel focused on the very things that bind, and break, a family.
'Booth is a triumph! No one writes like Karen Joy Fowler. With wit, heart, and revelatory insight, she teases ghosts from their shadows, transforming the way we see the past, shedding new light on our troubled present.' - Ruth Ozeki
Sarah is the fiction buyer at Boffins and has a penchant for writing that is incisive and challenging, bonus points for complicated characters. Trained as a chef, Sarah enjoys all things food- be it a beautifully laid out cookbook, a crop of broad beans in her garden, or a holiday planned entirely around where to eat. When she’s not barracking for the Dockers or walking her dogs, she enjoys endlessly searching for Perth’s best coffee.
Booth is a 500 page epic about John Wilkes Booth- the man who assassinated Lincoln- told almost entirely through the eyes of his eccentric family. Fowler brings to life all ten Booth siblings and their parents brilliantly; they are deeply flawed and well rendered.
If you've ever wondered how two Shakespearean actors and a Presidential assassin could come from the same family, Fowler is here with some unique insight. As much is this book is about the murder, it also focuses keenly on the fascinating world of theatre of the mid-1800s. Fowler uses that unique lens to tackle many big issues of the time, including women's rights, unionising and slavery.
Booth is a totally captivating read that I was sad to see the end of. It's well-researched for sure, but more than that, it's a bit of history that's been expertly moulded into a rich and satisfying story. Historical fiction at its best.
