Marchby Geraldine Brooks
2005, 273 pp.
2006 Pulitzer Prize
Rating: 3.5
I really wanted to love this book, but I ended up only liking most of it and despising parts of it.
March tells the story of Mr. March. You know, the father in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. We didn't know much about him from Little Women, and really, maybe we were better off that way than reading Brooks' reimagined version. I did not like her "version" of Marmee, either.
Some of this book is extremely well done. The civil war scenes and the descriptions of the plight of the slaves were excellent. The characters of Mr. and Mrs. March were not. Although they both do have their admirable moments, their "reputation" is severely tarnished in this book and neither is very likable at all. Their "conflicts" felt like they were from a soap opera. I am not one who cares for soap operas and certainly do not wish to feel like I'm "reading" one in a Pulitzer Prize winning book.
I recommend it solely to those who like to read "prize winners" or to those who are Little Women enthusiasts. But be warned: you may wish you did not have these new visions of the Marches competing with the original.
1 comment:
I actually quite enjoyed this book when I read it last year, I think that it helped that although I remember Little Women fairly well I seem to have no recollection of the parents.
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