Winner of the Pulitzer Prize–a powerful love story set against the backdrop of the Civil War, from the author of The Secret Chord.
From Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father, March, and crafted a story “filled with the ache of love and marriage and with the power of war upon the mind and heart of one unforgettable man” (Sue Monk Kidd). With “pitch-perfect writing” (USA Today), Brooks follows March as he leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause in the Civil War. His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs. A lushly written, wholly original tale steeped in the details of another time, March secures Geraldine Brooks’s place as a renowned author of historical fiction.
March tells a fictionalized tale of the Civil War and Mr. March, the father of Louisa May Alcott’s little women. Geraldine Brooks does a fine job with some of the lesser known details of the Civil War and the tragic circumstances it left many American citizens in. Mr. March was not a character that I find particularly inspiring as he occasionally slipped from a true and straight path. The tail is engaging and reads fairly easily and for anyone interested in the Civil War and it’s impact on the south this book would be a fine choice.
Geraldine Brooks writes with such precision and skill – it’s been years since I read People of the Book, but the careful, beautiful structure of her words can bowl me over just as much now as they did then. It’s been quite a while since I read Little Women, but I know the story fairly well, and it could never have prepared me for March. It’s easy to forget when reading Little Women that the Civil War is raging and tearing apart the country, but Brooks brings that front of mind with the secret traumas of the March family patriarch. This is a story of slavery and Southern turmoil, of plantations crumbling and people with wrecked pasts trying to make way in a tentative, uncertain future. It is not an easy read, but it is piercing and deep and lovely in so many ways. While the story in March does not always meld with the story in Little Women, I appreciated the breadth of history and emotion that filled these pages, and I find I am still thinking about Mr. March’s story, many hours after finishing it.
When I first read a review of March, I thought the premise was a little odd – a fictional account of a fictional character created by another author – and I assumed that I needed to have read Little Women to appreciate it (which is not the case). Given its rave reviews (and a Pulitzer) it was on my long list of books, but in the rather random fashion that I buy and read books, it was a miracle that it made it to the top of the list. The story line has been described extensively and I don’t really have anything to add to that. What was remarkable about the book is Brooks’ writing: her characters, her attention to historical detail, the moral ambiguity of war (and life), her narrative flow. Her writing is a thing of beauty. As I read March, I kept thinking to myself that other books I’ve read recently and liked weren’t even in the same class. March made me fall in love with reading all over again. Hoping that her other books are as good as this one, I intend to read everything she has written.
This book was a treat. Well written and illuminating. It was a great window into both a northerner’s naïveté about the horrors of slavery and also the harshness of the civil war war itself.
Geraldine Brooks fleshes out the story of the father in Little Women; his full life, including his service as a chaplain in the civil war. She adds a lot to that tale with this work.
Geraldine Brooks is a wonderful writer. I have read several of her nooks and they are all five star reads,
Excellent premise, great author.
Geraldine Brooks doesn’t seem to receive a lot of publicity and her books often seem to “fly under the radar”, discovered only by accident. This particular work of hers had been sitting in the TBR pile for some time and I finally dug through the pile to begin March. It is not what I had expected, but I’m beginning to find that “not what I expected” is the norm for a Geraldine Brooks book. The story of the father of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”, caught up in the terrible conflict that was our Civil War, told through flashbacks and the present, is beautifully written. The description of March’s introduction to the evils of slavery, portrayed in sometimes graphic and gripping language, is haunting. The humanity of March, his awareness of his own shortcomings, and his coming to terms with himself, while always keeping his family in the back of his mind, comes through in this book so eloquently. Quite simply, I loved this book and highly recommend it.
Fascinating terrifying rendition of the Civil War from an abolitionist point of view and in two voices – the father and mother of the Little Women family. So much history that informs our current ives and culture difficulties.
Very well written, but the protagonist does something that for me was unforgiveable and after that I just did not care what happened to him.
Interesting twist on the story but I despised the main character and that made it hard to read.
A great story for fans of Louisa May Alcott. This brilliant book peels back the layers of Mr. March and keeps us on our toes at the same time that it dives deep into this realistic fictional character.
Brooks’ imagined follow-up to Alcott’s Little Women, March is the Pulitzer winning tale of the absent father figure- absent because he was a Civil War chaplain. The eponymous March reveals to readers his travels and travails during the war; the suffering on both sides, the brutality of slavery itself.
A fabulous read ! The novel brings to light the horrors of the Civil War and slavery through the telling of the musings of March, the untold story of the Little Women’s father.
Not very original and I had a difficult time believing a man of that age could be so gullible.
Gives insight into lives of people fighting on the Civil War and those ministering to them.
Have you always wondered what happened to the father of the 3 girls in Little Women? Here is a tale that answers your questions and builds on all the characters. A thoroughly worthwhile read.
The book looks at the father from Little Women in the context of his service as a chaplain during the Civil War. Brooks develops a complex character who moves from idealism to a realization of the brutality of war and the intricate nature of humanity.
moving
Geraldine Brooks takes us into the Civil War through the imagined character of the absent father in Little Women. This character is based on deep research into the life and accomplishments of Louisa May Alcott’s father, who included among his friends Henry Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The history-based horrors and atrocities of that war, as well as the cruel and contradictory attitudes toward slavery and its victims are delineated through the events and characters in a manner that makes this book a page turner. I was reluctant to read this book—to me, the characters of Little Women are sacrosanct and should not be tampered with, but Brooks avoids any pitfalls that might offend anyone who feels that way. She creates a story that is engrossing and gritty and honest in a way that makes it stand on its own as a formidable work of American fiction.
Very interesting to read the “other side” of Little Women story from the father’s view of the civil war.
The change in his attitude as the war drags on was inspirational in his actions and attitude.