BOOTH’S DAUGHTER

The devoted daughter of famous actor Edwin Booth, the brother of infamous John Wilkes Booth, slowly realizes the depths of her father’s controlling behavior toward everyone around him. Edwina is a loving, supportive daughter to her father and mentally fragile stepmother. When her stepmother dies of tuberculosis, Edwina’s father is certain that if she leaves him via marriage or any other avenue, he will die as his father did when Edwin escaped from his controlling ways. Edwina begins to recognize the many ways in which her father has sabotaged her chances for love and personal fulfillment. Eventually, she meets an understanding Hungarian businessman who offers her a brighter future. Throughout, the specter of John Wilkes Booth and his notorious assassination of Lincoln colors Edwina’s life. Basing this debut on real events, the author provides a list of resources he used in his research. His quick-moving and well-written story employs appropriately old-fashioned speech, and beliefs and the result is enthralling. (Historical fiction. 13-16)