Fates and Traitors
by Jennifer Chiaverini
Shakespeare was one of my favorite subjects in English Literature in school. When I was perusing the table of "Summer Reads" in Barnes and Noble this book popped out for me!! In Julius Caesar [Shakespeare] -In Act 2 Scene 3, the soothsayer Artemidorus writes a letter to warn Caesar about the plot against him. “If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live,..If not, the fates with traitors do contrive.” THE BOOK, Fates and Traitors is about a famous family in American History, -a family of stage performers who often did Shakespeare's plays, an historical novel...of the Booth family. They, of course, were well-known across the globe in their time...before the Civil War, and during the Civil War. Of course, the main character of the book is John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin. But, this book is a bit different than any historical reads...it's about the women who loved him...his mother, his sister, his betrothed, his co-conspirator. IT WAS EXCELLENT for the most part. Some dry areas, but the book as a whole is a must read for those that enjoy reading novels based on fact. The author takes you through JWB's life, his family, his love for the South, even the author's view of how the once planned kidnapping of Lincoln turned into an assassination!! The ending chapters uniquely wraps it all up with how the women in his life lived, loved, and perished from a hanging, old age, and more!!
