Lincoln in the Bardo

I detected a tiny bit of padding in this inventive and affecting novel, but that is about the only negative that comes to mind. The tone and language are perfectly pitched: resembling the speech of 1862 but not exactly, more like formal modern speech heard through a sepia filter. The story is grave and the emotions are pure and real. The technique is redolent of the Dos Passos newsreels but comes off as strikingly original. A beautiful and memorable work.