![March](/assets/artwork/1x1-42817eea7ade52607a760cbee00d1495.gif)
![March](/assets/artwork/1x1-42817eea7ade52607a760cbee00d1495.gif)
![](/assets/artwork/1x1-42817eea7ade52607a760cbee00d1495.gif)
![](/assets/artwork/1x1-42817eea7ade52607a760cbee00d1495.gif)
March
Pulitzer Prize Winner (A Novel)
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4.3 • 450 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brooks's luminous second novel, after 2001's acclaimed Year of Wonders, imagines the Civil War experiences of Mr. March, the absent father in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. An idealistic Concord cleric, March becomes a Union chaplain and later finds himself assigned to be a teacher on a cotton plantation that employs freed slaves, or "contraband." His narrative begins with cheerful letters home, but March gradually reveals to the reader what he does not to his family: the cruelty and racism of Northern and Southern soldiers, the violence and suffering he is powerless to prevent and his reunion with Grace, a beautiful, educated slave whom he met years earlier as a Connecticut peddler to the plantations. In between, we learn of March's earlier life: his whirlwind courtship of quick-tempered Marmee, his friendship with Emerson and Thoreau and the surprising cause of his family's genteel poverty. When a Confederate attack on the contraband farm lands March in a Washington hospital, sick with fever and guilt, the first-person narrative switches to Marmee, who describes a different version of the years past and an agonized reaction to the truth she uncovers about her husband's life. Brooks, who based the character of March on Alcott's transcendentalist father, Bronson, relies heavily on primary sources for both the Concord and wartime scenes; her characters speak with a convincing 19th-century formality, yet the narrative is always accessible. Through the shattered dreamer March, the passion and rage of Marmee and a host of achingly human minor characters, Brooks's affecting, beautifully written novel drives home the intimate horrors and ironies of the Civil War and the difficulty of living honestly with the knowledge of human suffering.
Customer Reviews
I would advise readers….
A well written and enjoyable read BUT I wish I had read the author’s notes before reading this book. Without the background on what the author did (and this was the first time I had read her work) I was aware that this was a tale of what Mr March was up to in Little Women but nothing else. I couldn’t believe it had won a Pulitzer with all the name dropping going on! (Insert eye roll here.). I was annoyed and confused and not unappreciative; I have learnt my lesson. I do think the character of Grace could have been further developed. I can’t believe that she wasn’t terrified by Mr Marchs advances considering the time and her own birthright. 4/5 stars and I would recommend and recommend as a book club read..
Excellent historical fiction
A personalized account of March’s experiences and life- guiding philosophy, elegantly written. At times the story I’d a bit thin and overly sentimental, overwrought might be the 19th c word. Interesting few chapters when we switch to his wife’s viewpoint as narrator. Strong character in ex-slave, Grace. Overall a good read! Probably Ly will be a banned book in the near future in America where we can’t tell children true history….
Enjoyable read
The author takes liberties with the characters of Louisa May Alcott in a believable and thought provoking way. The reader now has an even better grasp of what life for the March family would ave been like in its time of war -- a war that, except for Chaplain March's leaving to minister to the troops, really never affects the girls and their mother, living as they did far north in Concord, Massachusetts.