Lincoln in the Bardo
George Saunders and Amir Tsukerman's Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) is a ghost story and historical fiction novel. Much of the action takes place in United States and Georgetown, Washington, D.C.. It deals with presidents, grief, Biographical and Purgatory.
Open Library readers give it an average of 4.2 out of 5 from 23 ratings, and 89 more have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 21 editions across 3 languages. It appeared on the New York Times Combined Print And E-Book Fiction bestseller list in 2017.
At about 426 pages, most readers finish it in 7–8 hours.
About Lincoln in the Bardo
February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth," the president says at the time. "God has called him home." Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns, alone, to the crypt several times to hold his boy's body. From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins a story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its historical framework into a supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state -- called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo -- a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.
Awards & lists
- ✦Locus Awards 2018 — Best First Novel (nominee)
- 📰New York Times bestseller list — Combined Print And E-Book Fiction, 2017
Quick answers
Who wrote Lincoln in the Bardo?
Lincoln in the Bardo was written by George Saunders and Amir Tsukerman and first published in 2017.
What genre is Lincoln in the Bardo?
It is usually shelved as Ghost Stories and Historical Fiction.
How long is Lincoln in the Bardo?
The median edition has 426 pages, about 7–8 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.
What books are similar to Lincoln in the Bardo?
Readers who like it often enjoy A Christmas Carol, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Daisy Miller.
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