The Good Lord Bird (National Book Award Winner): A Novel

Now a Showtime limited series starring Ethan Hawke and Daveed DiggsWinner of the National Book Award for FictionFrom the bestselling author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, Deacon King Kong (an Oprah Book Club pick) and The Color of Water comes the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Browns antislavery crusadeand who must pass as a girl to survive.Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1856a battleground between anti and proslavery forceswhen legendary abolitionist John Brown arrives. When an argument between Brown and Henrys master turns violent, Henry is forced to leave townalong with Brown, who believes Henry to be a girl and his good luck charm.Over the ensuing months, Henry, whom Brown nicknames Little Onion, conceals his true identity to stay alive. Eventually Brown sweeps him into the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859one of the great catalysts for the Civil War. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination, and told with McBrides meticulous eye for detail and character, The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.