Thought this was a really interesting take on a family-based narrative in this time period, with its trials and tribulations.

The title might lead the reader to think the novel focuses on John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, and it does, but only to an extent. It is a long, complex story and focuses rather on the various members of Booth's family, from his eccentric, unstable actor father, Junius Brutus Booth, to his various sisters and brothers and their perspective on the talented but mercurial John Wilkes. Like father, like son, always devoted to the controversial and the dramatic, John Wilkes is an unlikely supporter of slavery and the South in the American Civil War. (His father's Christian names might presuppose an opposition to tyranny and slavery.)

What I liked most about this novel was not the attention paid to John Wilkes, a spoilt brat if there ever was one, but to his long-suffering family, especially his sisters Rosalie and Asia, and how their brother's actions came to frame their lives.

"Booth" by Karen Joy Fowler is a beautifully written and thought-provoking novel that left a lasting impression on me. Fowler's exquisite prose and attention to detail transported me to a different time and place, immersing me in the world she created.

The author paints intimate portraits of each family member which leads to solid character development. The characters are richly drawn and felt very real to me. I was totally invested in them and their stories.

I was engaged till the very end and can't wait to read more books from the author.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a long historical fiction novel and this met the brief for me, following the family through generations this book was an odyssey akin to pachinko. Unfortunately I think this was too long and too vast for even me. The pacing was slow and some of the chapters felt rambling.

This had all the potential to be a favourite of mine, historical fiction told from an obscure perspective and Booker Prize Longlist nominated I had very high hopes.

Unfortunately it just didn’t live up to expectations and I spent most of my time reading this bored. Simply put I just didn’t care about the characters who just seemed to roam from place to place not really doing much of interest.

I appreciate that the purpose of the book was not to give John Wilkes Booth more publicity but his lack of voice within the narrative just left the story lacking and I desperately needed more details, depth and connection.

I know this was a strong read for many but it just missed the mark for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this in exchange of an honest review.

Karen Joy Fowler won me over from page one of WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES - I'd follow her anywhere, even into this particular period of American history that usually does nothing for me. Deserving of every accolade, this is a must read.

An intricate, nuanced novel about the family who raised John Wilkes, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. This is both a poignant study of sibling relationships and a timely look at a deeply divided America. I found it a little ponderous and a little bit of a slow-burn, but overall enjoyed it.

Complicated.
I was unaware of this family of actors, such talent passing from Julius to his sons.
The book was not uplifting with hardship, poverty, betrayal and drunkenness its chief ingredients. The family of Julius were always awaiting his return or for him to send money home. His wife struggled to bring up the children, though she had help from a loyal couple who were also slaves. The story is told from Rosalie's point of view initially and then in turn by the remaining children. The death of four of the children is tragic and affects all of the family indifferent ways.
The plays that are featured and the acting roles of the brothers are interesting and in some cases light relief from the families turmoils. Julius's wife appears and harangues the family causing rumours and upset, as no one was aware of her existence.
Slavery is a big issue at the time, with the civil war raging and its battles, atrocities and speeches. The family are divided in their support of Lincoln. The climax is surprising and hard on the remaining family.
Although the story swept me along, there were a lot of character sand at times I was confused by the politics.
Thank you NetGalley and Karen.

Like so many other people these days I find it very hard to get to the end of a movie or TV show, especially a biographical one, without getting out my phone and googling as I watch - which bits are true, what happened next to the minor characters, did it really go down the way the movie is suggesting?
I’ve never done it with a book before, but reading Booth I had the urge. I wanted to know every single thing about this family.
James Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln. In writing this book about him, Karen Joy Fowler didn’t want to centre his story and glorify the man behind the crime, so instead she zoomed out and told the story of his immediate family.
What seems so unlikely, is that his immediate family is so ripe to be the subject of an epic, 480 page novel. His father and brothers were famous actors, his sisters followed their own, very different paths, his family were Unionists and the resulting tension between the political opinions of Southern educated James Wilkes and his Northern brothers and sisters is fascinating. As is their adoration of him, regardless.
I just couldn’t get enough of this book. The perspectives, the details. The googling was really a way of extending the experience of reading it as far as I could. Luckily for me Karen Joy Fowler included her own historical catch-ups of all the characters at the end. Can’t recommend highly enough.

I stuck this out for 10% and found it utterly flat and tedious - a long recitation of births and deaths with zero emotion because we know nothing about any of the characters. Not for me - I was hoping for a story about the theatrical side of the family. Had I known it was a lengthy discussion of child death and unevocative grief I wouldn't have requested it.

I loved this book.

Funny, clever and really intriguing, I was thinking about it long after I finished reading.

Fans of the wonderful "We are Completely Beside Ourselves" may be quite disappointed. This is a very different book in both theme and writing style. I fear that the research gets in the way of the story telling but in saying this it may appeal to readers of historical non-fiction as the author has obviously put considerable amount of research into her characters' stories. I put this book down about half way through and wasn't tempted to come back to it.

I read this book expecting another engrossing story by Karen Joy Fowler. It's really well set up as a family saga, and you're quickly drawn in into the lives of the characters. I had no idea who John Wilkes Booth was until I read that book, so it's given me a new appreciation of that period of US history. However, the book was slow-paced, and reading it without knowing where it is going (if you don't know who John Wilkes Booth is!) was a bit of a chore. Not my favourite book by the author, but definitely readable and perhaps more enjoyable with a wider interest in Abraham Lincoln and historical fiction.

A wide-ranging historical novel with so many dimensions. The Booth family are complex and each character is deeply explored. Fabulous

It’s taken me a while to finish ‘Booth’ but now that I have, it feels like quite an achievement - as I’m sure it was to the writer during the process of writing.

This is a fictionalised account of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkie Booth, one of the theatrical Booth family. Much of the novel is about the family’s life in the 1800s, and their involvement in the theatre. Fowler has evidently spent a lot of time researching this novel and even though much is based on real-life, some of this is made up: completely understandable given the complexity of the story.

‘Booth’ is a good read - I didn’t love it, perhaps because reading it felt quite laborious at times, but I admire the quality of the prose and the extensive research Fowler did. It is historical fiction at its most intense.

Maybe 3 ½ stars but found this rather hard going. This should be a very extremely interesting subject but I never really got involved and found the book a bit of a slog. A lot of new information though as I did not know anything about JWB, definitely not that he came from a family of famous actors. I am sure others will find this a more enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley.

A wonderfully enjoyable historical novel about the Booth family, the American theatrical dynasty best remembered today for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth, whose action has overshadowed the triumphs and failures of the rest of this talented family. In this fictional account Karen Joy Fowler has expertly woven together fact and fictional imaginings to create a convincing and compelling narrative in which each family member gets their moment in the sun. She explores the family dynamic, the sibling rivalries and loyalties, their problems and tragedies, all culminating in that fateful day in 1965. The world of American theatre is vividly portrayed, and the family's commitment to the stage is expertly evoked. All this against a backdrop of escalating national tension in the run up to the Civil War, a portrait of the country at a key moment in its history. Race, politics, slavery, the position of women – it’s an ambitious novel handled with great skill and writerly craft. Using as many primary sources as are available, Fowler keeps to the known facts and uses creative licence to convincingly fill in the gaps. Although we know how it all ends, she manages to keep the tension rising and the expected climax is still a chilling one. I found the book compelling, multi-layered and thoroughly entertaining.

One of the family members is interesting - guess which one?! - but the novel is focused on lots of other family members who aren't. It's a mix of bad historical drama and family drama that adds up to an unimpressive shrug of a novel. Didn't enjoy it at all and sleep-walked through most of it. No idea what the appeal is with this author - her previous stuff must've been worthwhile - but her latest is such forgettable crap.

I didn’t know anything about John Wilkes Booth apart from the fact that he assassinated Abraham Lincoln, so Booth was an informative as well as an intriguing novel. Karen Joy Fowler’s focus is not on John himself, but on his family. What did it mean to them to be forever associated with a notorious killer?

Booth begins as John’s parents set up home in a remote farm in Maryland. They have married in England and Junius Booth has neglected to tell his bride, Mary Ann Holmes, where she is going to have to live. He is a successful actor and spends most of his life touring and performing Shakespeare, while she is left to tend the farm with his father (who has a lot to say but doesn’t contribute much). She gives birth to ten children and suffers the loss of many in childhood.

The narrative moves seamlessly between voices. There is an omniscient narrator, situating the story of the family in the historical context, and opening each chapter with vignettes from Lincoln’s life. This gives the sense of the two men moving inexorably closer, while also confining John to the margins – we are some way into the novel before he is even born. This is contrasted with the immediate and subjective voices of a number of John’s siblings, telling their own story, offering glimpses of John from childhood onwards.

Most poignant for me is Rosalie, the eldest daughter. She is haunted by the ghosts of her dead siblings, while also being forced to take responsibility not only for the surviving children but for her distraught mother. She begins as a thoughtful, perceptive child but her identity is steadily erased in adulthood and she finds herself moving between relatives, with no choice or autonomy. (An author’s note indicates that Fowler had to invent more with Rosalie than the other characters as there is so little source material about her.)

By contrast, the young Edwin, who is also sensitive and insightful, is forced into caring for his father as he tours the theatrical circuit. Junius’s erratic temper and alcohol consumption threaten to overshadow his performances. However, Edwin later escapes and enjoys success and acclaim as an actor himself (though he pays a price).


Junius Booth is both a dominant figure and an absent one. He is a political radical, a vegetarian, a man of creative flair and periods of instability, perhaps brought on by grief at the losses he experiences. The family quote Shakespeare at each other and three of the sons, including John, become actors. Within the frame of the novel, it is both surprising and understandable that John is pro-secession and pro-slavery, putting him at odds with the values of the rest of his family, while still retaining their affection.

Fowler shows how slavery in Maryland, while less overtly brutal than in some states, had other cruel impacts. The Booths employ a free black man, Joe Hall. His wife, Ann, is a slave on a neighbouring farm but is allowed to come and work for the Booths and earn money. Their children are born as slaves but they hope to save enough to buy both their freedom and Ann’s. Many families were in this position, parents, unable to buy all their children, forced to choose between siblings, those siblings growing up divided by their different fates.

Civil war and disorder come ever closer to home for the Booths, and we see events through the eyes of John’s siblings. Fowler keeps the story suspenseful – we know what will happen but not how it unfolds.

Booth is an interesting telling of the story of a family, from the domestic details of births, marriages, sibling rivalries, grief and joy, to the wider historical context and the factors that led to John’s increasing political estrangement from his family, even while they remained close.

John remains elusive, almost as ghostly as his dead siblings. The aftermath of the assassination, and its effect on his family, suggests his behaviour is as disturbing and incomprehensible to them as to the world.
*
I received a copy of Booth from the publisher via NetGalley.

📚 r e v i e w 📚
Booth - Karen Joy Fowler

If you’re anything like me, you’ll love a good historical fiction and specifically, you’ll want to read this one - Booth is a historical fiction with difference.
While you might think this is a novel about John Wilkes Booth, the actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, this is actually so much more.
Rather than being Booth’s life story, Karen Joy Fowler focuses on Booth’s parents and siblings, barely even drawing attention to the assassin (as she says: he’s a man who craved attention and has gotten too much of it - here here!), which is interspersed with snippets of Lincoln’s story and writings ans seeing the similarities between the two men was fascinating.
It was interesting to read more about a family in this time period and about how celebrity worked back then - many of the Booth men were famous actors after all.

I did initally pick this up because I was interested to find out more about Booth and Lincoln, so the fact that the book focused more on Booth’s family than him was a bit of a surprise to me, but it didnt hamper my enjoyment. Booth is well paced and meticulously researched with brilliant characterisations and a real grasp of the time period.
I’ve not read any of her books before, but I’ll be adding them all to my tbr. Many thanks to @netgalley for the early copy - Booth is out now.

Just some cw for you: child death, alcoholism, bigamy and of course there is discussion of the murder of Lincoln so if any of that is difficult for you leave this one for now

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