The Good Lord Bird

The Good Lord Bird is a novel written by James McBride. Released in 2013, it tells of a man becoming a part of John Brown's abolitionist crusade.

Characters[]

Henry "Little Onion" Shackleford - the narrator of the tale
"Old Man" John Brown
"Dutch" Henry Sherman - Henry's former owner
Frederick "Fred" Brown - one of John Brown's sons, a somewhat scatterbrained man
Owen Brown - one of John Brown's sons
Reverend Martin - a former member of John Brown's army
N----r Bob - an old enslaved man that Henry meets while in the wilderness of Kansas
Frederick Douglass
Pie - a mulatto woman Henry meets in Pikesville
Kagi - a teacher from Nebraska City in John Brown's armies
Miss Abby - a slaveowner in Pikesville
Chase - a redshirt
Pa - Henry's father
Darg - a muscular slave owned by Miss Abby
Sibonia - a slave that Henry meets in Pikesville
Judge Fuggett - a judge in Pikesville
Broadnax - a slave owned by Miss Abby
Hugh Forbes - a British soldier who served under Garibaldi
Libby - Sibonia's sister
Captain James Lane - the captain of a Free State militia

rest to be added

Publisher's summary[]

From 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.

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. When John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henry’s master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave town—with Brown, who believes he’s a girl.

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

An 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.

Plot[]

In 1966, the "First United Negro Church Baptist Church of the Abyssinia at 4th and Bainbridge Streets" burns down, revealing papers from a man who died at (at least) 100 years of age named Henry "the Onion" Shackleford who fought with John Brown.

Part I: Free Deeds[]

Chapter 1: Meet the Lord[]

Henry was born and raised in the Kansas Territory. His mother died giving birth to him and his father was a slave preacher (with a fanatic obsession with the Bible despite his illiteracy) and haircutter owned by "Dutch Henry" - the owner of a local tavern.

One day, when Henry was seventeen, the infamous (within the Kansas Territory) liberator John Brown walked into Dutch Henry's bar under a false name. He and Henry's Pa got into a short conversation about the Bible before Dutch Henry entered into the tavern. Angered by John Brown's talk about freeing slaves, Dutch tried to get him to swear on the Bible to uphold the institution of slavery. John Brown was extremely angered by this and Dutch Henry swearing using the Lord's name, leading to the two pointing their guns at each other. Dutch Henry fired first but his gun (a powder cap gun) misfired and exploded in his hand. John Brown then freed all of Dutch Henry's slaves and helped Henry (whom he believed was a girl named Henrietta) to escape. During this escape, Henry's father was killed accidentally by being skewered after Dutch Henry shoots at John Brown.

Chapter 2: The Good Lord Bird[]

After this escape, John Brown brought Henry to his camp at Middle Creek. Shortly after arriving, John Brown gave Henry an onion as a gift. Henry assumed that this was something to eat and bit down into one of John Brown's good luck charms. Instead of being angered by this, John thought that the good luck of the onion had passed into Henry (or "Little Onion", as he now called his Henrietta) and gave Henry the rest of his good luck charms (including the feather of a Good Lord Bird, or a woodpecker) before introducing Henry to his sons Fred and Owen and giving Henrietta a dress to put on.

Once Henry returned from slipping the dress on, John Brown sent Henry to learn how to ride on horseback with Frederick. While doing this, Henry tried to escape by stealing Fred's horse but was thrown off and briefly knocked out. Once Henry awoke, he discovered that his naked body could be seen under his dress and that Fred was aware that he wasn't a girl. Fortunately, Henry was able to convince Fred not to mention this. Fred then noticed a nearby Good Lord Bird and took Henry to look at it. While doing this, Henry gave Fred the Good Lord Bird feather - leading Fred to show Henry a way to kill pheasants without shooting them using a blanket. Once the two of them returned to the camp, Henry told Fred not to tell his father about the feather - which Fred agreed to do.

Chapter 3: The Old Man's Army[]

After meeting some of John Brown's children, Henry met his army - a rag-tag bunch of misfits and ruffians. Over dinner that night, John Brown learned that his "man in Congress" Senator Sumner had been whacked in the head with a cane by a pro-slavery senator. Angered by this, Brown planned to make an assault on nearby Osawatomie. This started an argument between Brown and a member of his army named Reverend Martin (who did not completely support the cause of segregation) over Dutch Henry which nearly split the army in half and led to Reverend Martin leaving the army.

Chapter 4: Massacre[]

For several days, John Brown's army wandered through the wilderness of Kansas and starved while John planned the beginning of his warpath. At the end of these days, John Brown decided to attack the farmstead of someone he assumed was Dutch Henry. While the rest of the army advanced on the house, Henry tried to run away but was found by the farmstead's dogs - which were shot by Fred before they could maul Henry. Thinking that Henry had purposefully found the guard dogs, John included his Little Onion in the raid. Once inside the farmstead, John learned that the owner of the farm was not Dutch Henry but that he was part of a pro-segregation militia. As such, John murdered the man and two of his sons. Once this had finished, one of John Brown's sons fled and (while the rest of the army chased after this son), Henry fled as well.

Chapter 5: N----r Bob[]

Shortly after escaping, Henry (while walking through the wilderness) watched a convoy of pro-segregation illiterates in a wagon try to get one of their number sign a list of proclamations with the threat of death. As none of them could read, this ended up going nowhere and all of the illiterates left - leaving their prisoner and the old slave driving the carriage behind. Somewhat surprisingly, the old slave (by the name of N----r Bob) refused to drive the prisoner back home - leading the prisoner to sabotage the wagon. Once the prisoner had left, Henry got out of the brush and tried to help Bob rebuild the carriage. Though Bob initially refused his help (believing that Henry was a "lady of ill repute" due to the dress he was wearing and his awkward attempts to tell Bob that he wasn't a woman), Bob soon agreed to take Henry's help. Before helping Bob, Henry revealed that he had escaped from John Brown and planned to return to Dutch Henry's farmstead. Bob was able to convince Henry that Dutch would send him to the South and to return to John Brown's armies instead.

Chapter 6: Prisoner Again[]

To find John Brown, Bob (accompanied by Henry) paid a visit to his cousin Herbert to find out the route to Old Man Brown's camp. Herbert was initially hesitant to give Bob this route but relented and told his third cousin how to get there. Though Bob wished to join Old Man Brown's army, he decided to stay behind until he could get safe passage for his family. As such, Henry travelled on his own to the camp. Once there, the Old Man welcomed Henry back into his armies (having either forgotten or ignored Henry running away) and Henry soon learned that the Old Man planned to attack the armies of one Captain Pate, as the Captain was holding his sons. Though this meant attacking on a Sunday, Old Man Brown decided to do this as the Captain would be taken by surprise by this.

Chapter 7: Black Jack[]

Unfortunately, Captain Pate's armies eluded Old Man Brown for several months. During this time, Bob rolled up to Old Man Brown's armies but soon learned that the Old Man wasn't going to lead him to freedom. Bob planned to leave but, before he could do so, the Old Man finally found where Captain Pate's armies were (a ravine near a village called Black Jack). While moving towards these armies, the Old Man found a group of abolitionists led by one Captain Shore who were also looking for Captain Pate. Unfortunately, these abolitionists were somewhat incompetent and tried to attack Pate's armies directly - with most of them either being massacred by sharpshooters or fleeing. Shortly after this, the Old Man's forces were able to pick off the sharpshooters and captured Captain Pate. Unfortunately, Pate had already given John Brown's sons to the US Marshals. As such, the Old Man travelled to nearby Fort Leavenworth to exchange Pate for his sons. Though the Marshals tried to arrest the Old Man, John Brown was able to convince them to take Pate and release his sons in exchange for arresting him in three days.

Chapter 8: A Bad Omen[]

Before this exchange could take place, the Old Man learned that several slavery-supporters were trying to burn down his farmstead. As such, he sent several of his army - including Fred and Little Onion, whom John Brown wanted to leave in the town of Osawatomie before helping his good luck charm travel north - on their own to stop this. While travelling towards the farmstead, the party found a group of anti-segregationists fighting with Natives. While some of the party left to help the Natives, Fred and Henry travelled onwards. While doing so, Henry was noticed by an anti-segregationist and nearly brought back to slavery before being rescued by Fred. Shortly after this, Fred unknowingly shot a Good Lord Bird. This was closely followed by Reverend Martin arriving with a group of anti-segregationists and shooting Fred dead right where he stood. Henry was able to escape these segregationists and thought about running away before deciding to just lay down while clasping the dead Bird.

Chapter 9: A Sign from God[]

Several hours later, John Brown and the rest of his army rode to Osawatomie and found that Reverend Martin's forces were besieging the town. While the Old Man tried to make a brave stand against these raiders, he was forced to retreat with his sons due to being outnumbered. While doing so, he was hit by a cannon ball and briefly knocked out (though Reverend Martin's forces assumed that John Brown had died in this) before he could escape. Once they had escaped, John Brown's sons tried to convince their father to move on from his war and let the federal marshals crush the Reverend's forces. The Old Man refused to believe this and saw the Good Lord Bird that Fred shot as a sign from God that he could continue. Despite this, he allowed his sons and his good luck charm to stay behind while he left to fight.

Part II: Slave Deeds[]

Chapter 10: A Real Gunslinger[]

Almost immediately after the Old Man left, his sons began bickering about what to do with Henry. Bob initially plans to take Henry to the nearby settlement of Tabor until Owen decides to take both of them there once he finishes looting the remains of his own homestead. Once Owen left, Bob tried to flee without him. While doing so, he and Henry were found by two "redshirts" (a term for pro-slavery militias) and questioned. Fortunately for them, Henry was able to convince them that he was a half-black woman and that Bob was her slave. Unfortunately, he also accidentally convinced the redshirts that he was a prostitute and to bring help him journey to a town in the slave state of Missouri called Pikesville.

Chapter 11: Pie[]

Once the two redshirts arrived in Pikesville, one of them left while the other (by the name of Chase) began drunkenly bragging that he was the one who killed John Brown before he stalked up to the "Hot Room" of the hotel and presented Henry to a mulatto "lady of ill repute" named Pie that he knew. Chase tried to convince Pie to hire Henry as one of the hotel girls. Though Pie agreed to let Henry come upstairs, she had him send Bob to the "n----r pen", something that Henry did nothing to stop.

Once upstairs, Pie told Henry to get a hot bath. Henry (likely fearing that his true identity would be revealed) refused and Pie threw him into a nearby bedroom which was being "used" by a client of the hotel. The sight and smell of this caused Henry to pass out and awoke to find one Miss Abby standing over him. Henry fled from this and jumped under the bed that Chase and Pie were "using". Though Chase wanted to get Henry out from under the bed by force, Pie kicked him out before he could do this and convinced Henry to get out from under the bed. Pie then tried to soothe Henry - which worked, as Henry had never had any major female presence in his life, until Henry tried to sob in her chest. Assuming that Henry had more ulterior motives, Pie grew disgusted with him and then tried to spank him after trying to throw him out. Upon doing this, Pie found out Henry's true gender and became extremely disgusted and scared that this could get her hanged. Henry convinced Pie that he was kidnapped by John Brown and tried to get her to bring him to Old Dutch's tavern. As she would have to travel thirty-five miles without papers, Pie refused. Henry then revealed that he could read at a very fundamental level (something Pie completely lacked) and agreed to teach her how to read if she hid his secret and convinced Miss Abby to hire him as a cleaner.

Chapter 12: Sibonia[]

Henry soon settled into his job as a cleaner but soon began to wonder what happened to Bob. When asked, Pie told him that Bob was in the n----r pen. Once Henry walked to the pen, he found no sign of Bob and was soon assaulted by a seemingly mentally challenged slave woman with mud balls. This slave (who was named Sibonia)'s sister (who was named Libby) soon arrived and revealed that Bob wasn't in the pen. The two soon began arguing, with Libby almost immediately figuring out that Henry was a "sissy" and accusing Henry of being privileged and full of white men's lies. Sibonia soon sent Libby away and revealed herself to be of sound mind. Sibonia agreed to bring Henry to Bob (who was on loan to a sawmill) if Henry could write her papers.

Chapter 13: Insurrection[]

About a week later, Henry met with Bob at a bible meeting in the pen. He learned that Bob was indeed working at a sawmill but was also hit on by a large slave named Darg. Henry turned down Darg's propositions, which angered Darg somewhat. When Henry told Pie about this, Pie got angry that he was consorting with "the outside n----rs".

Several days later, word of a possible insurrection amongst the slaves spread throughout Pikesville. Sibonia and several other slaves belonging to Miss Abby were arrested for being collaborators in the confession. The judge of Pikesville (a man by the somewhat amusing name of "Fuggett") attempted to get Sibonia to name every other slave involved in the insurrection but found Sibonia completely unhelpful. Judge Fuggett then sent the town's anti-slavery minister (who was one of the people whom the insurrection planned to kill) to get Sibonia to confess. Unfortunately for the Judge, Sibonia still refused and simply talked about her motives for planning the insurrection before praying with the minister - something that convinced the reverend to quit ministering in Pikesville.

Chapter 14: A Terrible Discovery[]

Shortly after this, Sibonia and her co-conspirators (which included her sister) were executed by hanging. Even to the end of her life, Sibonia remained as hard as a block of flint. Though things began to return to normal, Henry noticed a change in Pie - which might have been a sign that she was the one who had ratted out the rebellion. At the time, Henry was largely unaware of this as he wanted to reveal his true nature and declare his love for Pie. While planning to enact this, Henry walked into Pie's room and found that she was not there. While looking for her, he found Pie and Darg engaging in what can be described as consensual non-consent within the slave pen.

Chapter 15: Squeezed[]

Henry remained silent about this and returned to his work at the hotel. Shortly after this, Pie asked Henry to teach her to write letters but Henry found that he lacked the spirit to do it and was booted out by Pie. Along with his regular duties, Henry began drinking heavily - usually with other patrons of the hotel. One of these was Chase, who briefly visited Pikesville while returning from the Nebraska Territory. Shortly after this, Henry decided to visit Bob in the pen. While in the pen, Henry was stopped by a slave named Broadnax who assumed that Pie was the one who had ratted out Sibonia and that Henry had a part in this. Though Henry knew next to nothing about Pie's actions, it took him revealing that he and Bob ran with Old Man Brown and that the Old Man is still alive. Broadnax allows Henry to leave as long as Henry tells him what the rebels were doing. Shortly after this, Henry got drunk with a bearded patron of the hotel wearing a hat and walked outside with him - realizing that the patron was Owen Brown once the two were outside. Upon being reunited with Henry, Owen revealed that he was leaving with Henry and Bob but did not reveal if his father was alive or not.

Chapter 16: Busting Out[]

The next day, Henry travelled to the pen to let Broadnax and his allies out of the pen. Before he could do so, he and Broadnax were found by Darg. Fortunately, Henry was able to get Darg to leave using his wiles. Before Henry could let the slaves out, an army of Free Staters led by one Captain James Lane began firing on the hotel and the Redshirts within it. During the chaos, Darg ran into the hotel (possibly to rescue Pie) while Henry freed the slaves and fled with Bob and the other slaves. While doing so, Henry was rescued from a Redshirt by the Old Man - who wasn't very happy to learn that Henry had taken up drinking, smoking, and swearing. Fortunately for Henry, he was able to calm the Old Man by convincing him he had not yet tasted the sins of the flesh before marriage. With his good luck charm in hand, John Brown decided to split from the armies of James Lane alongside his small personal retinue and leave the Kansas Territory entirely.

Part III: Legend[]

Chapter 17: Rolling into History[]

As a blizzard rolls overhead, the Old Man moved his small army through Vernon County for several days to end slavery in the County. Once the Old Man was convinced that slavery had ended in the County (largely because nobody wanted to travel in the blizzard), he moved his armies into the free state of Iowa. While moving towards Iowa, John Brown's army was intercepted by a U.S. Marshal and nearly arrested before the Old Man was able to convince the Marshal to leave. Once in Iowa, the Old Man visited the town of Tabor but found the people there unwilling to board him. As such, John Brown lodged his armies in a nearby farm while he left for Boston. Though Bob tried to leave with them, John Brown convinced him to stay behind.

To get to Boston, the Old Man took a train from Chicago to Boston and then (to avoid a tail he believed had been put on him) stopped at Pittsburgh and then took a train to Philadelphia. John Brown and Henry then took a train to Rochester, New York - where the Old Man claimed that a great man amongst the black people lived. This great man was revealed to be Frederick Douglass, who already knew John Brown. Though the two were seemingly cordial, Henry claims that Frederick would be more of a boon to the Old Man than a friend.

Chapter 18: Meeting a Great Man[]

While in Rochester, the Old Man and Henry lodged with Frederick Douglass and his two wives - one black and one white. Henry was able to avoid the wives trying to undress him and bathe him while trying to "civilize" him by getting the two wives (who did not like each other) to fight with each other. Along with this, Henry discovered that Frederick Douglass loved to drink and possibly had less than pure intentions for what he believed was a young black woman. Henry recounts a time when the two got extremely drunk together and Henry listened to Frederick Douglass drunkenly rant about everything he knew.

Chapter 19: Smelling Like Bear[]

Once the Old Man had spent his time with Frederick Douglass, he left with Little Onion for Boston. To keep federal agents the Old Man believed were tracking him from finding him, the Old Man hired a train to Chicago (loudly declaring that he was doing so in the process) and then jumped off in Pennsylvania - about where his old home was. The Old Man then travelled from Pittsburgh to Boston. While in Boston, the Old Man lodged with two rich white people and began preaching to the people of the city.

This started a tour through the Free states - "from Boston to Connecticut, New York City, Poughkeepsie, and Philadelphia" - with Little Onion by his side. While in Philadelphia, the Old Man received word of a federal agent trailing him. As such, he had Little Onion stay on the lookout for this agent. While the Old Man is giving a speech about the evils of slavery, Little Onion noticed a figure he thought was the federal agent. Though he tried to stop this figure from reaching the Old Man, he was unable to do so and could only watch as this figure revealed himself to be a British man named Hugh Forbes who served under General Garibaldi. Though Forbes offered his support to the Old Man's cause, the Old Man (in Henry's words) "never saw him again".

Chapter 20: Rousing the Hive[]

to be added

Sources[]

Wikipedia
Goodreads

Title	Release date	Release date	Significance
Song Yet Sung	James McBride	2008	A novel by the same author with similar themes
Cloudsplitter	Russell Banks	1998	Another novel about John Brown
James	Percival Everett	2024	A novel with similar themes
John Brown's Body	Stephen Vincent Benét	1928	An epic poem about John Brown and the Civil War
The Risen	David Anthony Durham	2016	A novel with similar themes
True History of the Kelly Gang	Peter Carey	2000	An Australian novel with similar themes
The General in His Labyrinth	Gabriel García Márquez	1989	A novel with a somewhat similar portrayal of a historical figure
Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West	Cormac McCarthy	1985	A novel with vaguely similar themes