Before the Decade Ends, Here Are the Best Novels of the 21st Century

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017)

George Saunders’ first full-length novel is a venture in experimental fiction, inspired by a story Saunders heard about how Lincoln visited his son’s crypt at the cemetery on several occasions to hold the boy’s body. Much of the novel takes place in the bardo, a liminal space between death and reincarnation. “Without giving anything away, let me say this: I made a bunch of ghosts,” said Saunders.