Available Now
Stand Alone Book (as far as I know)
Bookologist Analysis: This book is really great for a required book in historical fiction if you want to read a required civil war.
Would you betray your president to win the heart of America’s most celebrated actor?
Bella isn’t evil. But even people with good intentions can end up doing bad things. Especially when they meet people with the power to persuade them to do almost anything, like John Wilkes Booth—the most charismatic and famous actor of his time.
So when Booth sets his sights on Bella, an assistant seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln, to help with his plot to kidnap President Lincoln, he is able to persuade her to betray her president and even turn her back on the boy she has loved her entire life. Bella believes Booth is only trying to force the North to release Southern war prisoners, and will not harm her dear friend Mr. Lincoln. But the kidnapping plot fails, and now Booth will stop at nothing--even if it means harming Bella in the process.
Anna Myers has crafted a provocative new look at the Lincoln assassination through the eyes of both a young White House insider and the assassin himself. An author’s note provides the historical background to this tragic event.
This book overall is not something I would recommend. It was a bit slow and unevenly paced. You could tell this book was choppy with inconsistent actions and point of views because it went between John Wilkes Booth (the assassin of Lincoln) and Arabella Gretchel (a seamstress of the theater and Mrs. Lincoln).
This book was overall a bit choppy. The problem was that not all of the POVs lined up together in terms of timing. I mean Arabella would be talking about when she ten and wandering the streets of D.C. with Steven, but Wilkes (as John Wilkes Booth likes to be called in the book and will henceforth be called) would be talking about going out to dinner with a Senator's daughter five years later. I also felt that there was not interaction between the two characters to validate them being in the same book. The only scenes between the two of them were torture, Arabella having a crush on Wilkes, and having dinner (not enough right?). This book was written well, but was lacking the real passion and drive of a book that you love.
Wilkes was a little out there in terms of all aspects of him. I mean Assassin, the title, obviously referred to Wilkes as he killed Lincoln which meant we didn't have twist in the plot since we knew what would happen. Wilkes you could tell was a little twisted in his mind with his radical ideas of kidnapping Lincoln and loving the South. Overall, however I didn't find him really interesting in his feelings, but you learned a lot about the actor turned killer. He was just another man overcome by mental problems, nothing more in this book.I mean did you ever know he had a sister named Asia, an expensive taste, or was an acclaimed actor. Wilkes was a disturbing character that makes you wonder if the villains in history actually had good lives.
Arabella was an innocent little girl throughout the book. She made you want to bash your head on the wall as she made such stupid decisions. Seriously, never trust men that are so rich or nice to you because they will want something in return. The one friend she had in Steven was a little romantic, but I feel it could have been explored a little bit more in terms of confusion. You could see how underdeveloped Arabella was as she didn't question anything Wilkes did despite it all going against her Unionist morals. It is quite perplexing watching a very naive character come to realization at how evil the world is.
This book left us with a big question mark at the end. There was Arabella reflecting as she walked around Washington D.C. as she did as a child. Supposedly, she would never feel the ghost of Wilkes haunting her, but why would he? I mean she was a just a tool to him to get to his glory as hero of the South. He always understood how naïve and easily used Arabella was. The book had the guts to take on a very controversial part of American history, but lacked a strong plot and characters.
Room by Book is feature done by yours truly where I put together collages of rooms/furniture that fit the book. All pictures' credits are down below.
Proust (armchair) by Alessandro Mendini (Cappellini)
Caucasian Rug B by John Derian
Damask Design white On Khaki Vintage Wallpaper by Rosie's Vintage Wallpaper
Round Carved Chocolate Center Table by One Kings Lane
Assassin (book cover) by Anna Myers
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