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Lincoln in the Bardo

by George Saunders

A cemetery story told through many voices

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Regular price $19.37 USD
Regular price $32.29 USD Sale price $19.37 USD
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Paperback New English

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Print BookAvailable Hardcover $24.31 USD$40.52 USD
Print BookCurrently viewing Paperback $19.37 USD$32.29 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    Booker Prize winner

    The book is identified as the winner of the Booker Prize.

  • Bestseller

    #1 New York Times bestseller

  • Editorial selection

    Time's Ten Best Novels of the Year

    Selected as one of Time's Ten Best Novels of the Year.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A cemetery story told through many voices

Set in February 1862, the novel begins with the death of Abraham Lincoln’s eleven-year-old son, Willie, during the early years of the Civil War. Saunders takes the reported visits Lincoln made to his son’s crypt as a starting point, then moves beyond a realistic account into a supernatural setting. The story unfolds through a shifting chorus of voices—living and dead, historical and invented—rather than through a single perspective. That structure brings private family grief into contact with the wider upheaval of wartime America, while keeping mortality and the limits of love in view.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in historical fiction centered on Abraham Lincoln and his family
  • Readers open to supernatural elements and a chorus of historical and invented voices
  • Readers interested in themes of grief, mortality, and love

Themes

Family griefMortalityLove and lossThe Civil WarHistorical and supernatural fiction

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE - A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

The "devastatingly moving" (People) first novel from the author of Tenth of December a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical and invented

One of The New York Times's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years - One of Paste's Best Novels of the Decade

"[Lincoln in the Bardo] demonstrates that even the unspeakable--civil war, familial grief--can be named through a close, humanizing narrative voice."--Amanda Gorman for Time, "25 Books That Capture This American Moment"

February 1862. With the Civil War less than one year old, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies gravely ill. In a matter of days, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. 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 that breaks free of its realistic framework into a thrilling, supernatural realm, deploying a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices--living and dead, historical and invented--to ask a timeless question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end?

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 - One of O: The Oprah Magazine's Best Books of the Year
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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.