With the backdrop of the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln’s young son Willie lays dying. After his passing, he is sent to rest in a crypt his father returns to to be with him over several nights. A wonderous cast of characters from throughout the cemetery builds on Willie Lincoln’s despair at no longer being in his body but not yet being elsewhere, and the urge to touch the world of the living proves too tempting for these not-quite-spirits.
A uniquely poetic novel, read like playwriting, expect the unexpected from this lyrical, surprisingly funny and at other times completely emotionally devastating work. Saunders, known for his biting, absurd and philosophical short stories and essays, is wondrous in his first full length work, winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize for good reason.
- Erin
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