Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

Rating: ★★★★★

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler is an epic historical fiction novel that follows America’s infamous family, the Booths, historically known to be a family of actors and writers; their name is forever overshadowed by the actions of one of their own – John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America.

Booth is told through the eyes of three of John Wilkes Booth’s many siblings, Rose, Edwin, and Asia, and begins before his birth and continues after his misdeed and death. Fowler, according to her author’s note, wanted to explore the reactions and experiences of John Wilkes’ siblings, many of whom were popular actors and were implemented into his actions.

It begins with going through Booth’s family history, the death of his siblings before his birth, and continues after his birth, following the lives of his living siblings. Through Rose, Edwin and Asia, we learn more about the family, their mother and Father, Mary Ann Holmes and Junius Booth, their relationship with Booth, and the remaining siblings as they try to build their lives as actors.

Between these stories, we also follow Abe Lincoln as he comes to power. While we get Booth’s reaction to Abe Lincoln, the story never really focuses on him, and we often see Booth through the eyes of his siblings, especially Edwin, who was a supporter of Lincoln, and Asia, who was very close to John Wilkes.

As the novel continues, there is an air of anticipation, particularly because Abe’s chapters are acting as a sort of count down to his assassination. The more we read, and the more we see through the eyes of John Wilkes’s family how John is beginning to fall, it is only a matter of time before we reach the point of no return.

The Writing

The writing for Booth is easy to engage with, and the book is structured in a way that is easy to follow. The multiple perspectives of Edwin, Rose, and Asia begin slowly and, as the book goes on, begin to intersplice rapidly towards the middle and quickly mould together towards the end, helping with that building up of anticipation.

 Fowler did a fantastic job weaving different points of view together. Allowing us to have a great insight into the history and the mindset of each member of the Booth family while exploring their own struggles.

Overall, Booth is a great bit of historical fiction. This is a sobering and shocking tale of how one man’s actions shocked a nation and his family, changing their lives forever. Booth by Karen Joy Fowler was longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and can be found through online retailers, such as Bookshop.org, and at your local book stores.

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Freelance writer with a love of books, particularly those from the 70s and 80s, and in the horror genre, she also has a fondness for classical literature and isn't opposed to digging in with the odd women's fiction. She lives in Shropshire, England with her husband, several furry guinea pups, and Duke the Fish. In order to stop annoying her husband with her constant conversation about the books she reads, she created Step Into The Void, a blog named after the mental state her other half says he steps into whenever she starts talking about the latest Jay Kristoff vampire novel or decides to try to explain the entire plot to Jenn Lyon's four-book epic The Chorus of Dragons or tries to explain why the horror fiction genre is slowing coming back thanks to authors like Grady Hendrix, Augustina Bazterrica, and Catriona Ward.  

Check out her Instagram @booksinthevoid