Bookworm in the City

No. 8 – A book with a one-word title

Booth / Karen Joy Fowler

The family history of John Wilkes Booth. The name doesn’t necessarily ring bells for many people in the NL, which I’m guessing is why the publisher made sure to add a blurb on the cover that mentions him as Lincoln’s killer.

The book caught my eye a while ago thanks to its gorgeous cover, but I feared it would be a difficult read.
Then recently, I passed the book in the library again and picked it up after all. And I’m glad I did, because it was an easier read than I had anticipated and I learned a lot.

Aside: I read in both English and Dutch, depending on availability / price of a book. I read Booth in Dutch; the title wasn’t changed in translation.

The family history is told from the perspective of Booth’s siblings and is fiction based on facts.
Every now and then Lincoln’s story seeps through as well, interwoven to remind the reader where he stood at the same time: there are quotes from letters and speeches, and passages telling about his personal life.
The Booth family history is dramatic with infant deaths, bigamy, money problems and alcohol abuse.
What makes them stand out from the average family at the time though, is the fact that they are famous and a lot gets written about them in newspapers.
Their father is an actor and all the children can recite Shakespeare. They all play-act in their younger years although it is only the boys that are allowed to dream of, and eventually chase, acting careers themselves.
The family income is depending on the jobs the acting members of the family can get, and good times are inevitably followed by bad times.
The siblings have very different personalities which causes tension and difficulties, but they do (almost) all stick together throughout the years.
The chapters are told from their different perspectives, although some siblings have a bigger, clearer, voice than others. The author explains in her notes, that this is due to the simple fact that some had more known about them.

The topics of politics and slavery are an aside to the story, they’re something that happens in the background, and doesn’t seem to be of much interest to the family. It must have been all the more shocking to have their son and brother do what he did.

I’m guessing this book would read differently if you are American or know more about the American Civil War. For me, a lot of it was new information (the treaties, politicians involved and incidents that preluded the war), but this is because my knowledge of John Wilkes Booth comes mostly from the tv show Timeless (loved that show) where they had an episode about Lincoln’s murder.