Booth

Fowler, Karen Joy

£9.99

Junius is the patriarch of the Booth family, 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.

Out of stock

Publish Date: 09/02/2023

Description

LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2022A SUNDAY TIMES HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2022AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 OPEN BOOK ‘Brilliantly recounts the story of the American theatrical dynasty that produced Lincoln’s assassin’ Sunday Times Book of the MonthIn 1822, a stage is set: Englishman Junius Booth – celebrated Shakespearean actor and man of mesmerising charm and instability – moves to a remote cabin outside Baltimore with his wife, who bears him ten children.Of the six who survive infancy, one is John Wilkes – the hot-tempered but much-loved middle son who, in 1865, fatally shoots Abraham Lincoln in a Washington theatre, changing the course of history. What makes a murderer? His family or the world? And how can those who love him ever come to terms with his actions? Strikingly relevant to the world today, Booth is the story of one extraordinary family and the terrible act that shattered their bonds forever.

Additional information

Weight 380 g
Dimensions 196 × 128 × 32 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

482

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

813.6 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K