Stuff I Read: The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

An abolitionist with questionable sanity is waging a one-man war against slavery in Kansas when he accidentally orphans a young Black girl during a gunfight. He obliges himself to conscript and care for this girl as penance. Except, this girl is a boy, and he wants no part of this man or his war. The tension between the States nears its boiling point in James McBride’s award-winning 2013 novel, The Good Lord Bird.

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

In The Good Lord Bird, we meet Henry Shackleford, a pre-teen slave living in Kansas in 1859. An encounter with legendary abolitionist John Brown (of the Pottawomie Rifles) leaves both Henry’s master and father dead. Thinking Henry is a girl, Brown takes the boy under his wing to save his life. He considers Henry his good luck charm after the starving child at a rancid onion that Brown kept on him for luck. As Brown and his sons crusade against slaver in the Midwest both in words and deeds, Henry waffles between staying under this man’s wing and fleeing at the first opportunity. All of this culminates in the fateful raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, a battle that was a precursor to the Civil War.

One of the things that struck me about this book was how smoothly James McBride inserted a fictional character—our narrator, Henry—into a series of historical events. It’s a convincing enough trick that one is tempted to look up records on Henry Shackleford or “Onion.” Through Henry’s eyes, we see John Brown as a distinctly quixotic figure. He tilts at windmills, goes on rambling, long-winded sermons, and has insane notions about the way things should be that he’s willing to die—and kill—for. Also intriguing is the characterization of Frederick Douglass as a pedophilic blowhard. In one scene, for instance, he tries to seduce Henry (in drag as “Onion”) by giving the youth copious amounts of alcohol he can’t handle himself. That characterization falls comfortably in the realm of satire, but it’s definitely an odd choice.

The problem I have with this story is that, like most fiction based on real history, the ending is well-known and never in doubt. John Brown and his troops attempt a raid on an armory in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, with the intent to arm slaves in their own revolt. It fails. It’s not even a spoiler to talk about it, as it’s recorded history from 160 years ago (Then again, if you live in a state that recently banned teaching certain elements of American History, maybe this is a spoiler. Oops). That said, how we get from Kansas to Virginia is a beautiful journey worth taking, and even though we know John Brown’s ultimate fate, I did find myself rooting for him and Henry to win.

The Good Lord Bird is a mostly brilliant read about one of the background players in the fight against slavery. It’s every bit worthy of its National Book Award hype.

Pros: Effortless marrying of historical events and fiction; fun characterization of abolitionist John Brown

Cons: If you’re familiar with Brown, you know how this story ends; odd and unflattering depiction of Frederick Douglass.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.