Booth cover art

Booth

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Booth

By: Karen Joy Fowler
Narrated by: January LaVoy
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2022

Sunday Times Book of the Month

SIX BROTHERS AND SISTERS. ONE INJUSTICE THAT WILL SHATTER THEIR BOND FOREVER

From the million-copy bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves comes an epic novel about the infamous, ill-fated Booth family.

Junius is the patriarch, a celebrated Shakespearean actor who fled bigamy charges in England, both a mesmerising talent and a man of terrifying instability. As his children grow up in a remote farmstead in 1830s rural Baltimore, the country draws ever closer to the boiling point of secession and civil war.

Of the six Booth siblings who survive to adulthood, each has their own dreams they must fight to realise—but it is Johnny who makes the terrible decision that will change the course of history—the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Booth is a riveting novel focused on the very things that bind, and break, a family.

©2022 Karen Joy Fowler (P)2022 Hachette Audio UK Biographical Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Biography

Critic Reviews

"In its stretch and imaginative depth, Booth has an utterly seductive authority." (Guardian)
All stars
Most relevant  
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was fascinating and informative.
The narrator was excellent

A fantastic story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A lot of micro detail about the family, quite interesting to understand the back ground of JWB.

Family life

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a wild story, beautifully told. I had no idea the president's assassin came from a famous and large and fascinating family. The details are delicately revealed and the pace and detail is perfectly balanced. I couldn't put it down.

Outstanding

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A well-written historical novel, with excellent narration enhancing the experience. I recommend this title for those who value good writing and enjoy very good voice work, supporting the story.

Fascinating story, well-researched and scholarly

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.