The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

The raid on Harpers Ferry by abolitionist John Brown is widely credited as being the catalyst for the beginning of the Civil War. Even in his own time, he was viewed differently by various groups--as a murderer, as a religious crusader for the right and holy, as a madman, as a savior of the slaves. According to the narrator of this novel, he was all of the above, and more.

The narrator is a boy slave, age 9 when the story begins, who is mistaken to be a girl when he is "liberated" by Brown during the strife in Kansas between pro-slavers and free staters. He quickly realizes that the mistake is to his advantage and continues the masquerade, becoming Henrietta instead of Henry. He comes to be something of a good luck charm for the old man, so that he is present at all the important events in Brown's crusade, through the hanging which ends the old man's life.

The issue of slavery is serious business, to be sure, but McBride makes his novel humorous, much in the tradition of Mark Twain in Huckleberry Finn. It is written entirely in the vernacular of the boy, as Twain wrote in Huckleberry. (Sometimes McBride falters a bit here, as some of the expressions seem to be more modern than the time period.)

Through Henry/Henrietta's eyes, John Brown comes alive as an admirable, though flawed, crusader for the right. Another historical character, Frederick Douglas, does not fare so well, being portrayed as a self-involved and lust-filled pretender as a champion of justice.

While McBride's method of narration is similar to Twain's in many respects, he does not rise to an equal status. (Who does?) But this novel does reveal a believable picture of the times, while providing implications about being true to yourself and rising above self interest in dealing with moral dilemmas.

This is a very readable and enjoyable novel, which won the 2013 National Book Award. It is a strong contender for the Pulitzer Prize for 2013 books.

For another novelistic look at John Brown, I recommend Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks.