The story of Asia Booth Clarke’s life is relatively unknown, but she chronicled the Booth family through her letters, poems, and books. In her memoir about her brother John, Asia condemned his murderous act, but she continued to love him. However, because John made the Booth name infamous, she suffered a lifetime of collateral damage. The five words from Shakespeare that concluded her memoir of her brother, “so runs the world away,” were the bitter fruit of trying to explain what was in her heart, which was and always would be unexplainable.

Lisa G. Samia is an award-winning poet and author specializing in Civil War history. She has served as Artist in Residence with the National Park Service at Gettysburg, Manassas, and Stones River, honored for her poetry exploring the personal narratives of the Civil War. Her acclaimed series The Nameless and the Faceless of the Civil War earned a 2024 nomination from the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards. Lisa is currently researching the life of Asia Booth Clarke while continuing her work in Civil War poetry.