The novel Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, published by Random House in 2017, offers a portrait of an American legend in mourning, surrounded by a poignant but funny cast of 166 characters. It is Saunders’s debut novel, though he has been a notable author of short story collections for decades. The novel won the prestigious Man Booker Prize and was a New York Times best seller.

Set in 1862, Lincoln in the Bardo is ostensibly historical fiction centered on one night in the life of 16th US President Abraham Lincoln, just after the tragic death of his young son. However, Saunders infuses his novel with supernatural elements, magical realism, black comedy, and psychological narrative to explore what it means to be human. As Lincoln grieves at the site of his son’s grave, readers encounter the ghosts of others buried in the cemetery alongside the boy; their lives and the rules by which they are allowed to haunt the living form the core of the novel’s plot. Each ghostly voice speaks in a pastiche of writing style from the time in which they lived. The stories of these dead—and, by implication, the newly created dead of the ongoing Civil War—force readers to consider philosophical questions of existence, purpose, and the afterlife. Greatly informed by Saunders’s experiences with Buddhism, the novel is a treatise on positive nihilism and the value of community and individualism.

Lincoln in the Bardo is structured using postmodern techniques: Saunders interweaves fictionalized and real historical records, realist narration, and dramatic scenes. The novel is characteristic of Saunders’s experimental and humorous writing style, which often uses elements of science fiction or fantasy.

Other works by this author include Tenth of December, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, and Pastoralia.

Plot Summary

In 1862, the American Civil War has just begun. Meanwhile, President Abraham Lincoln’s beloved 11-year-old son Willie dies of typhoid fever in the White House. When Willie dies, President Lincoln must endure public resentment for the war as well as prurient speculation about the circumstances of his son’s illness, which came to a crisis while the White House hosted a gala. The public perception of Lincoln serves as background noise for Lincoln’s inconsolable grief over the loss of Willie.

Willie wakes up in his tomb after his funeral. The cemetery is full of ghosts that exist in physical forms that manifest their unresolved issues in life. He is taken under the wing of Hans and Roger, two friends who enable each other’s denial. Together with the ghost of Reverend Everly Thomas, Hans and Roger work to free Willie from the bardo—an afterlife state trapping ghosts who refuse or are too frightened to move on—and explain the cemetery’s rules; for instance, the cemetery is unkind to children. It becomes clear that none of the ghosts can acknowledge that they are dead; they refuse to countenance the fact of their decaying bodies or gravesites.

Unexpectedly, Lincoln comes to the cemetery after hours by himself to cradle Willie’s body and mourn. The ghosts have never seen such a display of affection to one of their own, and they immediately latch on to Willie for good luck or wisdom. Willie is lonely and scared; he can’t understand why his father won’t take him home because he does not realize that he has died. Concerned that Willie will turn out like Elsa, a little girl who is stuck to the iron fence of the cemetery for eternity, Roger, Hans, and the Reverend try to stop President Lincoln from leaving. If Willie could only intercept his father’s body and listen to his thoughts, as the ghosts are able to do, then he could be released from the bardo, which is slowly but surely capturing Willie’s decaying soul.

Roger, Hans, and the Reverend interact with a myriad of other spirits, long-time neighbors of the bardo. Each ghost has their own unique history, time period, and piece of unfinished business. Some are worried about the children they left behind, while others are waiting to avenge the loss of their freedoms. Others are waiting for love, or sex.

Finally, after a fight with demonic spirits and a battle to avoid the seemingly terrifying phenomenon of leaving the bardo called the matterlightblooming, Willie reads his father’s thoughts. In Lincoln’s memories, Willie sees his father’s love, his own funeral, and a memory of Lincoln expressing disbelief over Willie’s death to a friend. Having come to terms with his state, Willie announces to the other ghosts what they are all in denial about: They are all dead, so nothing at all matters anymore. A massive matterlightblooming event takes most of the bardo’s spirits away. No longer perceived as frightening by the ghosts, this phenomenon is revealed to simply be the next step of their journey. Hans and Roger must atone for ignoring Elsa in her hour of need, but then they too are disappeared.

Lincoln spends most of the night in the cemetery, contemplating his sorrow. He ultimately resolves to move forward with his life and accepts Willie’s death as a necessary pain. Lincoln recommits himself to winning the Civil War, no matter the cost. As he leaves the cemetery, Thomas Haven, the ghost of an enslaved man, enters Lincoln’s body and travels with him to the future America.