ILS 593
Genre Assignment 2
GENRE: Historical Fiction
BOOK TITLE: March: A Novel
AUTHOR: Geraldine Brooks
PUBLICATION INFORMATION: 2005, Penguin Group, 280 pages
AWARDS: Pulitzer Prize for fiction
SETTING: US Civil War, some flashbacks from the antebellum South and Concord, MA.
MAIN CHARACTERS: Mr. March, the father in Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
OTHER CHARACTERS: Marmee and the four girls from Little Women, Grace, a slave woman
PLOT SUMMARY: Little Women, of course, is the story of the four March girls and their mother. Mr. March is a chaplain bravely ministering the troops in the Civil War. Geraldine Brooks wrote March to tell Mr. March’s story of what happened to him during his time in the Civil War. She also uses flashbacks to tell Mr. March’s version of his time as a peddler in the South, how he met Marmee and settled in Concord.
Brooks created the character of Mr. March in part based on the journals of Louisa May Alcott’s father. Brooks portrays Mr. March as a man of high ideals who loves his wife and family. He is not without faults though. He tries so hard to uphold his high moral standards that at times it becomes absurd.
APPEAL: Readers who loved Little Women will want to read this book, though the material is definitely not as “innocent” as Little Women. There are graphic depictions of civil war battle scenes. There is some sexual content as well.
SIMILAR TITLES: Readers who enjoy reading retellings of classic novels may enjoy Darcy’s Story by Janet Aylmer, The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr, or Finn by John Clinch.
REFERENCES:
Brooks, G. (2005). March: a novel. New York: Penguin Group
Moyer, J.A., & Stover, K.M. (2010). The Readers' advisory handbook. Chicago : American Library Association.
Novelist- http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=noh&tg=UI&an=131547&site=novelist-live
Saricks, J.G. (2009). The Readers' advisory guide to genre fiction: 2nd ed. Chicago: American Library Association.
