Books
by Karen Joy Fowler
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Booth |
John Wilkes Booth, assassin of Abraham Lincoln, came from a famous theatrical family. The novel follows the Booths, from a Maryland country childhood through to the assassination and beyond, interspersing the narrative with Lincoln’s rise to the Presidency and greatness. In a vivid portrait of nineteenth century America, with slavery and the theatre as known to the family in the foreground, you see the drama unfolding in the lives of the characters. A long novel, perhaps too leisurely at first, it gathers pace and excitement as the fateful moment approaches.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 107 Winter 2023) |
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Booth |
Encouraged by the review in bwl 107 I was curious to read this book. Like many British people, the only thing I knew about Lincoln's assassination was it happened in a theatre but by whom I had no idea. It's a fascinating read in which Fowler breathes life into Booth and his extraordinary family in a way denied to the writer of straight-forward biography. Purists turn away!
(Jenny Baker - bwl 109 Summer 2023) |
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We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves |
5-year old Rosemary is sent away to stay with her grandparents, when she returns there is no sign of her sister and beloved playmate, Fern. Now a college student far from home, Rosemary begins to piece together what happened all those years ago with a mis-guided experiment which drove her psychologist father to drink and her mother into permanent depression. Heavy going? No, it's a page turner.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 109 Summer 2023) |
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