Review of Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Saunders's strange, fascinating novel involves griping, sniping characters in limbo between life and death near the start of the Civil War, often in denial about their circumstances, with Abraham Lincoln's young son Willie at the center of a struggle for control of his soul.

“Only then (nearly out the door, so to speak) did I realize how unspeakably beautiful all of this was, how precisely engineered for our pleasure, and saw that I was on the brink of squandering a wondrous gift, the gift of being allowed, every day, to wander this vast sensual paradise, this grand marketplace lovingly stocked with every sublime thing.”

The word bardo refers to an existence between life and death, the length of which is determined by the person's behavior before dying.

The premise of Lincoln in the Bardo is that the story's characters are caught in limbo, somehow unaware of and in denial about their earthly demises, and they repeat their patterns and manipulations while making mental excuses for their diminished or changed states, all the while waiting for (impossible) opportunities to "feel better" and return to their lives.

The construction (short, often one-line passages followed by the speaker's name) of Lincoln in the Bardo could've been clunky, but the characters' voices were distinct enough to work.

This is twisted, base, and funny, but sometimes also sentimental and poignant, with peeks into deceased characters' pivotal life moments as well as hypothetical looks into Lincoln's frame of mind and motivation as he struggled with his personal losses and feelings of responsibility for the significant loss of life on both sides during the Civil War.

The character growth surprised me and felt in line with the tone and pacing of the story. This was unusual and fascinating all around.

I read this in 2017 and still think of this strange novel. I was recently talking with a friend about this novel and other books with characters in limbo at the times of their death.

I included Lincoln in the Bardo in the Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War.

More from This Author

George Saunders is also the author of Tenth of December, A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, Fox 8, and other books.

I'm excited to read my prepublication edition of Saunders's upcoming novel Vigil, to be published in January 2026.