#1 New York Times Bestseller Winner Of The Man Booker Prize. The devastatingly moving (People) first novel from the author of Tenth of December- a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical and invented Named One of Paste's Best Novels of the Decade Named One of the Ten Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post, Usa Today, and Maureen Corrigan, Npr One of Time's Ten Best Novels of the Year A New York Times Notable Book One of O- The Oprah Magazine's Best Books of the Year February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. My poor boy, he was too good for this earth, the president says at the time. God has called him home.