book review of march by geraldine brooks

Please see Disclosures for more information. That means if you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. This was a slow read, at times, but worth it for fans of both Little Women and historical fiction. Lately, I'm appreciating darker, more realistic takes on my childhood favorites, and March puts Little Women more clearly into historical context.

Instead, the novel provides insight into one man's experience of the Civil War, life as an abolitionist, and his human fears, failings, and moral quandaries when faced with the violence of war and the horror of slavery. The tie to the Little Women provides points of familiarity, but it isn't the focus and fans hoping for a new perspective on the girls will be disappointed (though the new view of an outspoken and impulsive Marmee is refreshing). I certainly never imagined him to be in much danger during his service (why, I'm not sure).īrooks' imagining of March is based on the life of Alcott's own father, Bronson Alcott, heavily documented in his letters and journals (though dramatized and fictionalized by Brooks). As a childhood fan of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, I gave little thought to their father and had only a dim understanding of the transcendentalist beliefs driving March and Marmee's ways of being and raising their family. March, absent for most of that famous novel to serve as a Union chaplain in the Civil War. This Pulitzer-Prize winning novel brings imagines the life of Little Women father Mr.

Book review of march by geraldine brooks