A review by yers
Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

2.0

This book was deceiving and disappointing on many fronts. The Story starts strong with the portrayal of a marriage that is unequivocally emotionally stale as well as abusive. Then, as each character gets to tell their point of view as to of how they see things within the family unit and society at that time, the writing falls apart. The more you read, the more apparent is the lack of engagement between the narrative and the characters. At times, it feels as if you are reading a very long history essay. For a Shakespearean family (in any possible way), there are simply no lyrical, feverish moments that grip you from start to end. Have I mentioned this is absurdly long? at almost 500 pages, this is a chaotic research paper that got derailed and could not be kept on track, but the deadline was over so here we have the book. The characters are meant to evoke a literary savviness that is much engraved in their DNA since references to Byron, Dickens, Blake and Beecher are seen throughout the book. References to parts of Lincoln's political aspirations were also weakly portrayed and rather undeveloped. Also, for an international reader or someone who is not well adept in American History, this book is highly insufficient and vague while explaining key points involving abolition, secession and political unrest. Many more lost opportunities to give some of the black families a conciliatory background. Overall, not a book worth your time reading.