March
3 journalers for this copy...
I read this a few years ago and thought it was excellent. Found this copy at a thrift store for release. See this JE for my prior review.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. 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.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. 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.
Journal Entry 2 by 
perryfran
at Literature VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, June 24, 2012
perryfran at Literature VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, June 24, 2012
Released 11 yrs ago (6/24/2012 UTC) at Literature VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
This was selected from the Literature VBB by Rumomma. Enjoy!
Received from perryfran in a VBB and onto the tbr pile it goes. :) thanks!
Update 9/9/12: I finally got around to reading this and am so glad it did! I LOVED every minute spent reading this book. Brooks is a gifted writer and I am surely going to read more of her works. I have read The People of the Book (which is what inspired me to get moving on this book) and plan to read her other two out now. I highly, highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of historical fiction. Her writing is fantastic and she writes hist fic very well.
I am putting this book in a book box (OphEliaGirl's) currently making the rounds around the States. I hope someone chooses to take it and read it. :)
Update 9/9/12: I finally got around to reading this and am so glad it did! I LOVED every minute spent reading this book. Brooks is a gifted writer and I am surely going to read more of her works. I have read The People of the Book (which is what inspired me to get moving on this book) and plan to read her other two out now. I highly, highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of historical fiction. Her writing is fantastic and she writes hist fic very well.
I am putting this book in a book box (OphEliaGirl's) currently making the rounds around the States. I hope someone chooses to take it and read it. :)
This wonderful book is being placed in OphEliaGirl's book box currently making it's way across the United States.
I've had this book on my wishlish for a while, so was thrilled to find it in the bookbox. Can't wait to read it!
