Lincoln in the Bardo

February 1862: The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long and bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth; God has called him home. ”