Lincoln in the Bardo

Lincoln in the Bardo is really and truly one-of-a-kind. It’s an experimental novel that combines historical fiction, Tibetan Buddhism, theology, fantasy, and comedy, to tell the story of Willie Lincoln (son of Abraham Lincoln) and his attempt to escape a purgatorial plane of the afterlife, called the Bardo. But such a pithy summary doesn’t nearly do Saunders justice. Lincoln in the Bardo is the rare experimental novel—structured as equal parts play, novel, and historical pastiche—that is totally original, easy to follow, and a delight to read. Saunders ability to borrow and combine such widely disparate genre tropes, but without overshadowing or trivializing the human characters at the heart of the story, is dazzling. With Lincoln in the Bardo, Saunders shows that the formal possibilities of the novel remain nearly infinite, but more importantly, he delivers a tale that is at once honest and painful, but also generous, big-hearted, and hopeful without ever descending to schmaltz.