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5★
“ ‘There ain’t no tents: they’re using some old secesh house,’ said a private, nursing a bandaged arm. ‘Strange place it is, with big white statues all nekked, and rooms filled up with old books. There’s an old secesh lives there, cracked as a clay pot dropped on rock, seemingly, with just one slave doing for him.’”
March has asked a soldier where they’ve set up the field hospital and is directed to a big old house that they’ve taken over – the home of an old secessionist.
The book opens in Octo ...more
“ ‘There ain’t no tents: they’re using some old secesh house,’ said a private, nursing a bandaged arm. ‘Strange place it is, with big white statues all nekked, and rooms filled up with old books. There’s an old secesh lives there, cracked as a clay pot dropped on rock, seemingly, with just one slave doing for him.’”
March has asked a soldier where they’ve set up the field hospital and is directed to a big old house that they’ve taken over – the home of an old secessionist.
The book opens in Octo ...more
A brilliantly imagined novel, telling the story of the largely absent father from Little Women. It spectacularly evokes the civil war period and tackles big issues of morality, principle, love and duty.
I've given this four stars because I acknowledge that it is impeccably researched, incredibly well written and admirable in scope and I don't really like the star system on goodreads.
I didn't like it. I think for me this novel would have been more effective if it hadn't been so cruelly tied to Little Women, if it had been entirely an invention with lots of insider nods to Louisa Mae Alcott's work. It wasn't so much that I minded where she took March and Marmee (okay, I did mind - but I can see h ...more
I didn't like it. I think for me this novel would have been more effective if it hadn't been so cruelly tied to Little Women, if it had been entirely an invention with lots of insider nods to Louisa Mae Alcott's work. It wasn't so much that I minded where she took March and Marmee (okay, I did mind - but I can see h ...more
Nov 09, 2008
Tien
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
australian-author
This is the story of Mr March, the absent father from the little women's of Louisa M. Alcott. It follows him through his journey as a chaplain and his reflections of the past which brought him to where he is now.
Whilst I enjoy the writings, all through the book I feel like picking him up and just shake him. I can't stand him and yet I find his story to be engaging. ...more
Whilst I enjoy the writings, all through the book I feel like picking him up and just shake him. I can't stand him and yet I find his story to be engaging. ...more
This was an amusing book which fit into a tidy pocket of history and fiction: Little Women, the Civil War, transcendentalism, etc. I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't pull me in emotionally.
It perhaps could have been a better book if they alternated chapters with Marmee and Captain March instead of shoving her chapters into the end. ...more
It perhaps could have been a better book if they alternated chapters with Marmee and Captain March instead of shoving her chapters into the end. ...more
I loved the authenticity with which Geraldine Brooks has handled the character of Mr March from Little
Women. He is a man swept up in the events of the time.
After finishing March I reread Little Women. It was lovely to revisit this wonderful book.
Women. He is a man swept up in the events of the time.
After finishing March I reread Little Women. It was lovely to revisit this wonderful book.
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11287516 ...more
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11287516 ...more
A clever idea. Take the missing father from Little Women and tell his story. Brooks adds background details from Alcott's family life, historical details from the US Civil War, the town of Concord in MA ... shake and stir with a great story-teller's skills. What I particularly liked is the author's treatment of 'Marmee' the almost-saintly mother from Little Women. What a terrific back story hers is.
...more
bargain = 1 of 29 books for $5.
Nov 01, 2007
Lucinda
marked it as to-read
Jan 14, 2008
Jade17
marked it as to-read
Nov 02, 2008
Fiona
marked it as to-read
Mar 29, 2014
Nancy
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
america
Apr 01, 2016
Jules
marked it as to-read
