Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel

Named One of Paste's Best Novels of the Decade - Named One of the Ten Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post, USA Today, and Maureen Corrigan, NPR - One of Time's Ten Best Novels of the Year - A New York Times Notable Book - One of O: The Oprah Magazine's Best Books of the Year

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 an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, 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.

Lincoln in the Bardo is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction's ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end?

"A luminous feat of generosity and humanism."--Colson Whitehead, The New York Times Book Review

"A masterpiece."--Zadie Smith

ADD TO MY SHELVES

Recommend book

BUY THE BOOK

368 pages

Average rating: 6.66

208 RATINGS

12 REVIEWS

These clubs recently read this book...

Literary-ish LA: A Women's Book Club

Between the Lines

Smoke Stacks Book Club

DISCOVER MORE CLUBS

Community Reviews

Write a review...

Anonymous

Nov 18, 2024

6/10 stars

While I appreciate Saunders's use of dialogue and his exploration of familial relationships and grief as cathartic, the large number of characters and the constant introduction of new narratives made me feel isolated. I connected with the central theme of being stuck in an intermediate state from physical existence to nothing, unable to move on from being alive, but the sheer volume of voices felt overwhelming.
3.5/5

lovlilynne

Aug 05, 2024

9/10 stars

One of the most unique, if not the most unique books that I have ever read. At first, I thought it was one of those gimmick books - you know, the ones written as if it's the dog narrating or the dead person, or the child or whatever. I don't particularly care for those, and it takes great skill to do them well. But, this book is different, for while it has a bit of a gimmick, it also has so much more.

I've been reading for almost 50 years. It is such a pleasure when a book surprises and delights you. That's pretty much all I have to say about it, but I think it says it all.

Anonymous

Jun 26, 2024

“His mind was freshly inclined toward sorrow, toward the fact that the world was full of sorrow, that everyone labored under some burden of sorrow; that all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were suffering (none content; all wronged, neglected, overlooked, misunderstood), and therefore one must do what one could to lighten the load of those with whom one came into contact; that his current state of sorrow was not uniquely his, not at all, but, rather, its like had been felt, would yet be felt, by scores of others, in all times, in every time, and must not be prolonged or exaggerated, because, in this state, he could be of no help to anyone and, given that his position in the world situated him to be either of great help or great harm, it would not do to stay low, if he could help it.”

Anonymous

Dec 28, 2023

8/10 stars

One of the more creative and entertainingly philosophical pieces of fiction I've read in a long time. I couldn't have picked a better book to listen to on my drive from Atlanta to D.C. The ghosts that narrate this book seem to be haunted by themselves, by their inability to let go of the characters and emotions that defined their lives, by their good, bad, and ugly companions. It's one of those stories that shows how allegory can be the most literal way to explain a universal truth. Just read it. Or better yet, listen to it. You'll learn something about Abraham Lincoln AND the nature of humanity, and you might even laugh a little; there's a lot of human nature to laugh about. I loved listening to Nick Offerman and David Sedaris banter back and forth in the audio version.

margardenlady

Dec 27, 2023

8/10 stars

This may well have been one of the strangest things I've read in a while. It is an incredibly imaginative view of some kind of limbo/Bardo in the Tibetan tradition/ through which souls move after they have died. A plethora of undead characters populate this strange place, in which President Lincoln accidentally intrudes after the death of his son. These characters each have their own stories to tell, and this telling is historically appropriate and chilling. A hymn to grief and hope of redemption. I listened to the full cast recording and that was fascinating.