Booth was written by Karen Joy Fowler and published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 2022. You can purchase it on Amazon/Kindle and you can visit the author on Amazon.
Captivating and vivid- as if she were behind the lens of a camera, instead of crafting together letters on a page. An epic novel!
The year: 1822. A family moves into a cabin thirty miles northeast of Baltimore. They quickly farm the land and give birth to ten children over the course of sixteen years. These are the beginnings of the Booth family; the head of this family is Junius Booth, a celebrated Shakespearean actor but he is also someone who is consumed with drink and causes his family much instability and they are forever worried with fear for their survival and a foreboding, tumultuous future. The nation is heading dangerously in the direction of secession and civil war as the Booths take to the stage and strive to become one of America's leading theatrical families. In doing so, however, they encounter multiple scandals and criminal endeavors which threaten to undo an otherwise benign and struggling family. This story paints a portrait of a typical family unit who would largely be left unknown by history- if not for the ties to their infamous brother and son, John Wilkes Booth. The author explores her fascination with what the families of deadly shooters must face when they are sometimes unfairly thrust into the limelight of society. Her prose is captivating and vivid, as if she were behind the lens of a camera, instead of crafting together letters on a page. The characters are rich and intriguingly compelling to know, and the history is very well presented, leaving me awed, with a new perspective on that era of American life- and with it, the sad end to one of our most revered presidents. This is a novel of epic proportions. It's a top shelf- a must read! I give Booth 5 out of 5 stars.