Spit slides and flies toward Dutch Henry (David Morse), as Hawke, fully embodying abolitionist and storied wild man John Brown, heaves out a fiery speech. When he rises up from that barber’s chair in the first few minutes of The Good Lord Bird with half a cheek still coated in white soap, the camera zooms in close on his cheek folds and piggledy, piss-colored teeth. Eventually, Little Onion finds himself with Brown at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859-one of the great catalysts for the Civil War.Īn absorbing mixture of history and imagination, and told with McBride's meticulous eye for detail and character, 'The Good Lord Bird' is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.Let’s talk about Ethan Hawke’s mouth.

Over the ensuing months, Henry-whom Brown nicknames Little Onion-conceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive.

Henry is forced to leave town-with Brown, who believes he's a girl. When John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henry's master quickly turns violent. Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857, when the region is a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces. 'A boisterous, highly entertaining, altogether original novel.' - 'Washington Post'įrom the bestselling author of 'The Color of Water 'and 'Song Yet Sung 'comes the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown's antislavery crusade-and who must pass as a girl to survive. 'Wildly entertaining.'-4-star 'People' lead review 'So imaginative, you'll race to the finish.' 'James McBride delivers another tour de force' -'Essence' 'Outrageously entertaining.' -'USA Today' 'A magnificent new novel by the best-selling author James McBride.' -cover review of 'The New York Times Book Review' Winner of the Morning News Tournament of Champions

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Liev Schreiber and Jaden SmithĪ Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Oprah Magazine Top 10 Book of the Year Winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction

Author of the good lord bird