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Search - March
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Book Description:
As the North reels under a series of unexpected defeats during the dark first year of the war, one man leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause. His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs. Riveting and elegant as it is meticulously researched, March is an extraordinary novel woven out of the lore of American history.Members who requested this book also requested:From Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has taken the character of the absent father, March, who has gone off to war, leaving his wife and daughters to make do in mean times. To evoke him, Brooks turned to the journals and letters of Bronson Alcott, Louisa May’s father—a friend and confidant of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In her telling, March emerges as an idealistic chaplain in the little known backwaters of a war that will test his faith in himself and in the Union cause as he learns that his side, too, is capable of acts of barbarism and racism. As he recovers from a near mortal illness, he must reassemble his shattered mind and body and find a way to reconnect with a wife and daughters who have no idea of the ordeals he has been through.
Spanning the vibrant intellectual world of Concord and the sensuous antebellum South, March adds adult resonance to Alcott’s optimistic children’s tale to portray the moral complexity of war, and a marriage tested by the demands of extreme idealism—and by a dangerous and illicit attraction. A lushly written, wholly original tale steeped in the details of another time, March secures Geraldine Brooks’s place as an internationally renowned author of historical fiction.
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Genres:
- Literature & Fiction >> General >> Contemporary
- Literature & Fiction >> Genre Fiction >> Historical
- Romance >> General
- Romance >> Contemporary >> General
Top Member Reviews
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
"March" in this title refers to the protagonist, Mr. March, patriarch of that well-known March family from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. And I admit, I spent the first half of this book trying to figure out why Brooks decided to use Little Women as a context for her book. Eventually, I found it didn't really matter--not because the book can or should stand by itself (it probably can, but it needn't), but because I was really most interested in the little bits of information about Jo, or Meg, or Amy, or Beth that were scattered throughout their father's narration. The historical detail in March is interesting, but as I read it, I felt it needed a broader canvas. It's supposed to be the intimate first-person perspective of one man, a man confronted with his own (mostly internal and ethical) reactions to the Civil War, but I found myself totally ambivalent toward him. On later review, I came to the conclusion I was supposed to feel a little bitter toward him, and I suspect Brooks wrote the book with a feminist slant. It was only when Marmee's perspective suddenly jumped into the narrative toward the end of the book that I felt truly engaged by the novel, and it wasn't that I was more interested in Marmee's thoughts, or that I was already inclined to be sympathetic toward her because of Little Women (I was never a big fan), it was that Marmee's perspective contradicted her husband's. I was quite satisfied with the way the book ended, but I think the fact that the book absolutely cannot do without Marmee's brief first-person perspective highlights a larger structural problem.
Megan S. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I grew up loving Little Women, so when i heard about this book I had to read it. March, or Mr. March (the father of the Little Women) tells his side of the story and the life he lived when he was away from his little girls. I really liked this book and think i will keep it to read many times in the future.
Tracy P. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This was assigned to me as a book club book and I was sure I would dislike it and probably not finish it...however, I was wrong.
This spinoff of Little Women is poignantly written with a certain...well, impartialness that only a non-American can provide when writing of the civil war. The characters are rich and multi-faceted. To me the story flows as part of Alcott's original classic.
I recommend it.
Sharon N. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is a wonderful read. I always wonder where authors get their inspiration, and Ms. Brooks explains who she based her interpretation of Mr. March in the acknowledgements at the back of the book. It's almost as if I picked up Little Women, then picked up March, and had a seamless experience of the family. Not to be missed!
Brandy S. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Couldn't get into it. Tried, and made it halfway through. The idea was good...what happened to the father of the 'Little Women' while they're story was being told? But I felt that there wasn't enough dialogue between the characters, so it was like reading a report, and not a story.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
For someone who loves Little Women, this was a completely different book, focusing on the civil was and abolition, but it weaved in and out of the Little Women story, adding more context to that book as well.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
For me, this book started out a little slow and dry at first. But if you feel the same way, stick with it! It definitely gets better. I'm glad I gave it a chance. Turned out to be a very good read.
Mary G. from MARIETTA, GA wrote on 2/1/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
An excellent historical glimpse into a man's journey through the Civil War,a man no other than the father in Little Women. It really moved me.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Honestly more hype around the book than being a good book. It lost me after awhile and I no longer cared.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Fantastic! The novel takes the character of the absent father in Little Women and creates a terrific, grown-up companion to it. The character of Mr. March is not only based upon the Little Women novel, but also upon real-life details of Louisa May Alcott's father, Bronson Alcott, an interesting, if minor, historical figure. This version includes discussion questions at the end which makes it a great choice for book clubs.
Rate These Member Reviews
Charlene P. (The story was a good Civil War Story about an abolishionist chaplain in the Civil War.
The writing was good.
For me it was a terrible dissapointment because this Mr March was not who I imagened raised Jo, Beth, Meg and Amy. And the characterization of Marmee was significantly flawed too.
Once I just read it not as an extention of the Little Women characters it was good. But as long as I though it as the parents of them it was frustrating and felt very inaccurate.
The afterword explained that the author based it on Louisa May Alcott's father . . . since she based the Little Women characters on herself and her sisters. He was an abolitionist, vegitarian and friends with the famous people mentioned in the book. But he was not a chaplain nor did he go off to war.
So its worth reading if you don't connect it to the original book.
Excellent! Absorbing love story and fills in many information gaps about Civil War conditions among the non-military. Tells it like it is about heroism, race relations of the time and well researched. Would have been more interesting in depth if I'd read Little Women though, but you don't have to, to get plenty out of it.
The story of what happened to Mr. March (the father in Little Women) when he was away at the war - Civil War that is. Horrifying in some ways, enlightening, and gave a new dimension to that character and to the character of Marmee from LW. I liked this book and I have just started another one by the same author, that is very good so far. I think this author shows a lot of promise, and I will continue to follow her work.
Depressing. Gave me a distasteful picture of Mr. and Mrs. March that I hope to disconnect from the characters in Little Women.
Christine R. from OXNARD, CA wrote on 4/15/2007...I loved this book - the basic premise of using the father from "Little Women" and then mainly the development of the characters.
Danette G. from CLAREMONT, CA wrote on 4/10/2007...A little difficult to get into to.
New information for me on Civil War. Interesting approach to piggy back on a classic (Little Women). Very descriptive, but took lots of liberties. Enjoyable read.
Peg D. from CLINTON, MN wrote on 4/3/2007...Mr March, the absent father in "Little Women", and his experiences in the Civil War. This is a great book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Kerrie F. from SAN DIEGO, CA wrote on 4/1/2007...A wonderful new perspective and insight into the lives of our dear friends, the March family. . .this time, from Mr. March and Marmee.
Jane B. from NORTH BEND, WA wrote on 3/15/2007...also read Widow of the South at the same time... great combine read.