Researching the Booths was an adventure. I discovered whole communities fascinated by this family, particularly those online at LincolnConspirators.com (formerly BoothieBarn.com) and those in the flesh who maintain the Booths’ old home, Tudor Hall. There was no shortage of material. But separating fact from fiction was often impossible. A number of stories about the Booths have been told and retold, appear in many sources, yet have doubtful provenance. One result of having a brother who ranks with history’s great villains—a lot of mythology.
Donald Trump was elected to the presidency while I was still in the early stages of research. The shock and despair of this waylaid me for more than a year. It seemed pointless to be writing about anything else and it took much longer than it should have for me to realize that I wasn’t writing about anything else. The more I read of Lincoln’s warnings concerning the tyrant and the mob, the more I immersed myself in the years that led to the Civil War, the more brightly lit the road from there to here became.
The Lost Cause may be temporarily mislaid, but it has never been lost. Whenever Black people exercise genuine political power in this country, the assassin appears, the mob rises. This is the history of America and there is no escaping it. Abraham Lincoln told us so.
I was in the midst of my final edits when, during the violent insurrection of January 6th, 2021, I saw the flag of the Confederacy carried through the halls of the Capitol for the very first time. Let it be the last.
Afterword and Acknowledgments
It is only natural, when reading a historical novel, to want to know which parts are true. But the question here is a complicated one. There is an enormous amount of material, both primary and secondary, regarding the Booth family. Some of it is confusing; some of it is contradictory; all of it is fascinating. So there are things here that I am confident are true and things that I know I made up. But there are also things I did not make up, yet am uncertain are true.
Of the characters in this book, Rosalie is the most fictional. She left only a slight mark on the world—one or two letters, and occasional references to her in the books and letters of her siblings, usually referring to her as poor Rose, the invalid sister. It was a great frustration to never be able to settle the question of what exactly her infirmity was. In the end I chose scoliosis, which is referenced in her death certificate. And because, for obvious reasons, Richard III was in my head.
(A parenthetical note on Richard III. Lovers of Shakespeare may be startled when some quotes from the play are not as they should be. But the Richard being performed is the Cibber adaptation, not Shakespeare’s own text. I offer this reminder because I myself so often had trouble remembering it.)
Despite the troubling lack of material, I needed Rosalie to tell the story of the early years, most critically of the children’s deaths that so deformed this family. My Rosalie sections are as accurate as I can make them in terms of things that happened, but the character is largely invented.
I was on more solid ground with Edwin and Asia. Many of their letters survive, along with Asia’s books. I didn’t get to their later lives—Edwin’s troubled second wife, the fate of Asia’s children, et cetera—so for those interested, there is much more to go and see.
I am indebted to Ann Smith for procuring Asia’s letters to her lifelong friend Jean Anderson for me and to the Maryland Center for History and Culture for allowing me to use them. I’m indebted to Sarah Pinsker and Zu Tudhope for providing a comfortable bed, good food, and great company while I visited the sites around Baltimore. I am indebted to Evie Wilson-Lingbloom, who did odd bits of research for me over several years. And many thanks to the Folger Shakespeare Library and to Hedgebrook, two places so close to my heart, I would take up permanent residence in either if I could.
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I learned so much from those who’ve studied the Booths longer than I. My greatest gratitude goes to Terry Alford, author of Fortune’s Fool, a magnificent and meticulous biography of John Wilkes Booth. In answer to a random question over e-mail from me, a complete stranger, Terry immediately offered to share with me some thirty years of research he’d done on the family. Unbelievably generous, and I could never have written the book without him. But he is so careful himself, I can only hope he isn’t appalled by some of the liberties I’ve taken.
Among many other materials, he gave me the delightful manuscript The House That Booth Built by Ella V. Mahoney, a woman who lived in Tudor Hall after the Booths did and compiled a great deal of neighborhood gossip about them. Terry also took me to Tudor Hall and introduced me to Tom Fink, president of the Junius B. Booth Society. I’ve made much use of the society’s newsletters and publications as well as attending lectures at Tudor Hall.
Terry also introduced me to Jim Chrismer, a Booth family historian who helped me find my way through the Historical Society of Harford County. He put me in touch with Daniel Watermeier, author of the completely wonderful American Tragedian: The Life of Edwin Booth. Watermeier opened his archives to me, answered questions, and pointed me towards other sources. I am so very grateful to all of these.
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For the writing itself, many people were kind enough to listen patiently as I struggled through the book, or to read early drafts and provide help as needed—Jane Hamilton, Gail Tsukiyama, Elizabeth George, Nancy Horan, Ruth Ozeki, Kelly Link, Holly Black, Kim Stanley Robinson, Andrea Hairston, Micah Perks, Melissa Sanderself, Susan Sherman, Jill Wolfson, Tatjana Soli, Peggy Townsend, Liza Monroy, Kathleen Founds, and Elizabeth McKenzie.
I had brilliant feedback from my wonderful agents, Molly Friedrich and Lucy Carson, as well as crucial editorial input from the incomparable Sally Kim at Putnam. My assistant, Molly Zakoor, has been helpfully keeping me on track throughout. And Hugh, too. Always Hugh.
Of course, none of these people can be held accountable for any mistakes I may have consciously or unconsciously made. Those are entirely of my own doing and I expect to answer for them in the years to come.
About the Author
Karen Joy Fowler is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including The Jane Austen Book Club and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, which was the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. She lives in Santa Cruz, California.