Booths Daughter Author:Raymond Wemmlinger From School Library Journal — This story, set in the elegant society of the 1880s, keeps readers at a distance that emulates the social period of the times. Despite being told in first person by Edwina, the niece of assassin John Wilkes Booth, the novel retains a detached quality, never showing more than would be polite in mixed company. While he... more »r father, Edwin, is a wonderful actor and worthy of accolades, the attention the Booth family receives is more of the "notorious" variety due to their familial association with the man who shot President Lincoln. The teen's desire to be a good, supportive daughter to her temperamental father and mentally unbalanced stepmother overrides standing up for what she believes is most important in her life: getting married to Downing Vaux and beginning her own family. Circumstances make Edwina's plans spiral out of control, leaving her with no choice but to follow her father's arrangement of her life. Wemmlinger presents an interesting picture of upper middle class existence in this debut novel set at a time when women were just beginning to see themselves as autonomous. Thoughtful teens will enjoy Booth's Daughter.« less