March, Geraldine Brooks
March, Geraldine Brooks
31 Rating(s)
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March
Pulitzer Prize Winner (A Novel)

Author: Geraldine Brooks

Narrator: Richard Easton

Unabridged: 10 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 10/10/2004


Synopsis

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.

About The Author

Geraldine Brooks is the author of five novels: the Pulitzer Prize-winning March; the international bestsellers Caleb's CrossingPeople of the Book, and Year of Wonders; and, most recently, The Secret Chord. She has also written the acclaimed nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. Born and raised in Australia, she lives on Martha's Vinyard with her husband, the author Tony Horwitz, and their two sons.


Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Susan on 2007-06-12 16:34:14

The premise is an interesting one - Little Women from the eyes of their father, a chaplain in Union army during the Civil War. But so, so preachy. And often plodding. Had there not been the 'Little Women' connection (one of my favorites as a girl), I'd have been tempted to give it one star instead of two. The narrator also sounded like he was about 100 years old, far older than the actual character, and did no justice to female or slave voices. It was a tough ride, but I made it to the end. Not sure I'd recommend the trip to anyone else!

AudiobooksNow review by Cyndie Browning from Tulsa, OK on 2008-08-22 14:22:26

I've read _Little Women_ many times in my life but never did figure out what war Mr. March went off to fight in UNTIL this book! It didn't really have a lot to do with Alcott's book, other than the 2-3 time checkpoints that the author mentions in the Afterword. Well, despite the tedious review below, I LOVED this book. I loved the humor of it, I loved listening to Mr. March speak about the practice of slavery that he was seeing first-hand, and I loved listening to Mrs. March fret and worry as she worked through the devastation of learning that her husband had had a years-long affair---whether or not consummated---with a black slave. The story held my attention the whole way through, and when it was done, I listened to it a second time. I LOVED it!

Goodreads review by Jaline

March took me by my idealistic hands and thrust me completely into the Civil War where I experienced it in ways I had not before. It was easy for me to become invested in this story because it is based on the mysterious Mr. March from Little Women; the husband of Marmee, and the father of Meg, Jo, B......more

Goodreads review by Sarah

It's not that I don't like any historical fiction, I just think that it's a really hard thing to do right, without simplifying everything. Nah, I really just hate historical fiction. And I think that March is a perfect example of historical fiction gone wrong. 1. I hate it in historical fiction when......more

Goodreads review by Brian

I wanted desperately to like this book! And I sort of did! "Little Women" is one of my wife's favs, and I'm a sucker for Civil War novels (all five billion of 'em). But this book, though elegantly written, struck me as too schmaltzy and too overly preachy to enjoy. It was also a wee bit predictable......more

Goodreads review by Hannah

Mr. March, father to Luisa May Alcott's Little Women, is brought to life in this poignant novel by Geraldine Brooks. When he departs to fight in the Civil War, Mr. March is unprepared for the great cruelties he will bear witness to. His moral certainties are called into question by the atrocities of......more


Quotes

"Brilliant...Geraldine Brooks' new novel, March, is a very great book....Brooks has magnificently wielded the novelist's license."—Beth Kephart, Chicago Tribune

"A beautifully wrought story....Gripping....A taut plot, vivid characters and provocative issues."—Heller McAlpin, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Honorable, elegant and true."—John Freeman, The Wall Street Journal

"Harrowing and moving...In her previous book, Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks proved herself to be a wonderful novelist. March has all the same virtues...casting a spell that lasts much longer than the reading of it."—Karen Joy Fowler, The Washington Post World

"Wholly original...deeply engaging."—Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor

"Inspired... A disturbing, supple, and deeply satisfying story, put together with craft and care and imagery worthy of a poet."—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Louisa May Alcott would be well pleased."—The Economist


Awards

  • Pulitzer Prize (Fiction)