Booth is a historical novel by Karen Joy Fowler originally published in March 2022. As the title suggests, the subject of the novel is America’s most famous killer, one of history’s most famous assassins, and, arguably perhaps, the one single individual who did more to adversely impact the course of American history than any other. What the title also suggests less explicitly is that the focus of its semi-fictional retelling of the story is not just John Wilkes, but the Booth clan as a family already very famous long before their most wayward member went completely off the rails.
In an Author’s Note accompanying the narrative, Fowler specifically addresses the elephant in the room. Why direct her time and talents to a story about one of the most despised figures in American history? After all, this is a man whom she acknowledges was little more than an attention-seeking narcissist who long ago overstayed his welcome in the metaphorical fifteen minutes of Warholian spotlight.
The uncertainty about giving John Wilkes Booth any of her attention is obliquely addressed with the revelation that this book’s genesis roughly parallels that of Donald Trump’s shockingly unexpected rise to the peak of American political power. The subsequent four years of intensifying anxiety about Abraham Lincoln’s warnings concerning the tyranny of mobs culminated in an unprecedented sight no American had ever witnessed before. The sickening scene playing out on her television screen of the Confederate flag being displayed inside the United States Capitol on June 6, 2021—for the first time in history—came to seem to the author almost like a validation of why attention should be directed toward the figure of John Wilkes Booth at least one more time.
The story that is told in Booth commences in 1822. Thus, it is a story that spans several decades and addresses the subject matter within the context of what that story might have been like had John stuck to being a matinee idol. A novel about the first famous acting family in America would have been inevitable had John never shot Abraham Lincoln or, for that matter, had Abraham Lincoln never been elected President. But, of course, the actual context of the story of the Booth family changed forever as a result of its most infamous offspring. And the coincidental irony of Booth’s political perspective being adopted and propagated by some of the most powerful figures in the American government is the actual elephant in the room.
Initial critical reaction to the novel has been divided over recontextualizing the most significant moment in the storied history of this family so that it becomes as relevant to the politics of the moment as it was to the politics of its time making the book worthy of the attention of readers. There seems to be an equal division between critics who feel that the answer to writing a book with John Wilkes Booth at its center lies in writing about all those other Booths radiating outward from that center and those who dismiss the value of the writing of revisiting the single greatest criminal act in American history as merely one subplot in a great big family drama. More directly pointed criticism questions the value of using the shooting of Abraham Lincoln with a 19th-century Derringer as a commentary on the present-day assault weapons epidemic making Americans genuinely question whether any location outside their home can truly be considered safe from the threat of immediate extermination of other young men with grievances to air and scores to settle by squeezing a trigger.
"Booth" is a historical fiction novel written by Karen Joy Fowler and first published in 2008. The novel is set in the aftermath of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and tells the story of the life and death of John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated the president.
The novel explores the theme of history and how it's being perceived and written, it questions the true motivations and actions of Booth and challenges the traditional narrative of the assassin as a madman and villain. Fowler presents a complex and nuanced portrayal of Booth, depicting him as a deeply flawed but also sympathetic character, whose actions were influenced by the political and social climate of the time.
The novel is also notable for its use of multiple narrators, which allows for a variety of perspectives on the events of the story, and for its attention to historical detail, which helps to create a sense of authenticity and immersion in the period. The novel also explores the themes of family, loyalty, and the role of the individual in shaping history.
Overall, "Booth" is a thought-provoking and well-researched novel that offers a fresh perspective on a significant historical event and a complex historical figure. It is a powerful and engaging work of fiction that challenges readers to question their preconceptions and consider the complexity of the past.
