In the hands of the right imagination, the horror of individual loss can become an extraordinarily humane exploration of the beauty and the value of life, however painful * Guardian *Īn original father-son tale that expertly blends history and fiction (and even the supernatural), Lincoln in the Bardo explores grief, loss, life, death * Buzzfeed Year Ahead in Books * Set in 1862 in a cemetery in Washington, it has drawn high praise * New Statesman *Ī cacophonous, genre-busting book inspired by the death of Abraham Lincoln's young son * Metro *įilled with wit and sadness. The debut novel by the short-story supremo George Saunders. The much anticipated long-form debut from the US short-story maestro does not dissapoint * Guardian * I love it - Max PorterĪn early contender for 2017's Man Booker, a highly affecting novel about Abraham Lincoln's grief at the loss of his young son * Sunday Times * What a warm, kindhearted and radical piece of writing. Winner of The Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2017 (UK)Ī masterpiece - Zadie Smith * New York Times * Deploying a theatrical, kaleidoscopic panoply of voices - living and dead, historical and fictional - Lincoln in the Bardo poses a timeless question: how do we live and love when we know that everything we hold dear must end?

Here he invents an exhilarating new form, and is confirmed as one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Unfolding over a single night, Lincoln in the Bardo is written with George Saunders' inimitable humour, pathos and grace.

Willie Lincoln finds himself trapped in a transitional realm - called, in Tibetan tradition, the bardo - and as ghosts mingle, squabble, gripe and commiserate, and stony tendrils creep towards the boy, a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul. From this seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of realism, entering a thrilling, supernatural domain both hilarious and terrifying.

Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy's body. In a matter of days, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 A STORY OF LOVE AFTER DEATH 'A masterpiece' Zadie Smith 'Extraordinary' Daily Mail 'Breathtaking' Observer ' A tour de force' Sunday Times The extraordinary first novel by the bestselling, Folio Prize-winning, National Book Award-shortlisted George Saunders, about Abraham Lincoln and the death of his eleven year old son, Willie, at the dawn of the Civil War The American Civil War rages while President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son lies gravely ill.

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