What’s BookieMonster Currently Reading? March by Geraldine Brooks

I’ve been a bit late coming to Geraldine Brooks – the only other title of hers I have read is Year of Wonders, but it was an enjoyable read, and so I was happy to find a copy of March.

March takes its starting point from Louisa May Alcott’s classic 19th century American book Little Women, a title that holds some very fond memories for lots of readers, but not one that found a substantial foothold with myself as a young reader. In some ways I think that meant I was able to approach March as book of itself, rather than bringing to it any expectations from Little Women – always a problem when a writer starts with such a concept, but Brooks’ skill is more than enough to offset any reader apprehensions.

March tells the story of Mr March – the “off-page” father of Little Women, absent and fighting in the Civil War. In the conflicted idealism of the character of March Brooks manages to reflect the greater conflicts of the time – North vs. South, abolitionist vs. slaver,  black vs. white, and also hints at bigger sociological themes that remain with us (was there really that big a difference between the paternalist oppression of the slaves by the white Southern plantation owners and the patronising idealisation of them by white Northern abolitionists?).

Brooks’ writing is as lyrical as expected, her descriptions shine as they did in Year of Wonders. Having said that though the plot feels contrived in places, and the ending rushed. I think the book benefits by being reasonably short in length – the muted defects would have been much sharper if it had been longer. In many ways I actually enjoyed the passages about pre-Civil War days best, as they felt more honest and authentic in presentation, but the general excellent writing does much to cover my annoyances with the plot.

I’d still highly recommend this as a read, I think most readers would find it engaging, if a little shocking in places.

If you do enjoy this and also want to read another (and in my opinion better) novel about slavery and the many moral ambiguities of 19th century American South I’d strongly recommend The Known World by Edward Jones (which I think will be a future entry in BookieMonster’s Unappreciated Classics category).