March | Geraldine Brooks | An absorbing read

March | Geraldine Brooks | March in and out of step

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March

	March Geraldine Brooks Penguin (Non-Classics), 2006 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 142 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An absorbing read

[***** = breathtaking, **** = excellent, *** = good, ** = flawed, * = bad]

Mr. March is often exasperating but always believable in this vivid Civil War novel that is not so much about battles as about how the hardship of war shapes families. Chapter 2 involving Grace the beautiful slave reaches near perfection. Longer review at ImpatientReader-dot-com.

March in and out of step

I admit that I have higher expectations for books that have won a Pulitzer Prize, which is unfair to the author. After all, how many authors set out to write a Pulitzer Prize winning book? It must come as an unexpected surprise.

So I am trying to set those expectations aside as I rate this fine novel with four stars. I appreciate the author's research and interweaving into this story of historical facts, personages, and "the rest of the story" from "Little Women." My only quibble with the character of Peter March is that he is, as the School Library Journal states, "amazingly naive about human nature." I would say that he is painfully naive, which I found to be slightly at odds with his otherwise complex and ambivalent character.

But on the whole, this well wrought Civil War tale is pleasantly affecting and accurately presents some uniquely 19th century sensibilities. I enjoyed the dual perspectives, of Peter March in Part One and wife Marmee March in Part Two.

I would offer one bit of advice to readers: You will enjoy the story even more if you read the Afterword first. Don't worry; there are no spoilers in it!

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I learned a lot about the Civil War

From reading this book. It really gave you an idea of what it was like to be there, way more than any history book I've read, and still kept you interested and involved with the main character.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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