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Description edit
From Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic Little Women , Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father, March, and crafted a story "filled with the ache of love and marriage and with the power of war upon the mind and heart of one unforgettable man" (Sue Monk Kidd). With... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
(From back of book) As the North reels under a series of unexpected defeats during the dark first year of the Civil War, one man leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause. His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs. From Louisa May... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Mr. March: Narrator, antagonist, Chaplain and Connecticut peddler as a youth
- Augustus Clement: Virginia plantation owner visited by the young peddler Mr. March
- Mrs. Clement: Mr. Clement's ailing wife
- Grace: Educated household servant and gift to Ms. Clement when Grace was a baby
- Annie: Mr. Clement's cook
- Prudence and Justice: Annie's children
- Dr. McKillop: Military surgeon
- Reverend Daniel Day: Unitarian minister who introduced March to his current wife.
- Margaret "Marmee" Marie Day: The mother of Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth
- John Thoreau: Pencil maker
- Henry David Thoreau: Son of John Thoreau, author and naturalist.
- Waldo and Lidian Emerson: Occasional dinner guests of the Thoreaus
- Sophia Thoreau: Henry David Thoreau's older sister and friends of Margaret Day
- Ethan Canning: Illinois attorney under contract to manage Oak Landing
- Zannah and Jimse: Two contraband taught by Mr. March at Oak Landing.
- Jesse: A former slave of Oak Landing and one of Mr. March's most apt pupil and natural leader among the former slaves.
- Beth "Mouse" March: The Marches 11 year old, shy daughter
- Ethan Canning: Ill. attorney and overseer of Oak Landing
Quotes edit
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“Are there any two words in all of the English language more closely twinned than courage and cowardice? I do not think there is a man alive who will not yearn to possess the former and dread to be accused of the latter. One is held to be the apogee of man's character, the other its nadir. And yet, to me, the two sit side by side on the circle of life, removed from each other by the merest degree of arc.”
Setting & Locations edit
- Virginia
- Oak Landing: An estate to which Mr. March is assigned to teach "colored" children
- Georgetown: Where Mrs. March visits Mr. March who is gravely ill with a bilious fever and pneumonia
First Sentence edit
This is what I write to her: The clouds tonight embossed the sky.
Table of Contents edit
Part One
Chapter One: Virginia Is a Hard Road
Chapter Two: A Wooden Nutmeg
Chapter Three: Scars
Chapter Four: A Little Hell
Chapter Five: A Better Pencil
Chapter Six: Yankee Leavening
Chapter Seven: Bread and Shelter
Chapter Eight: Learning's Altar
Chapter Nine: First Blossom
Chapter Ten: Saddleback Fever
Chapter Eleven: Tolling Bells
Chapter Twelve: Red Moon
Chapter Thirteen: A Good Kind Man
Part Two
Chapter Fourteen: Blank Hospital
Chapter Fifteen: Reunion
Chapter Sixteen: River of Fire
Chapter Seventeen: Reconstruction
Chapter Eighteen: State of Grace
Chapter Nineteen: Concord
Afterword
Glossary edit
- butternut: A Confederate soldier or supporter so called because the fabric of the Confederate uniform was typically homespun and dyed with butternut extract
- contraband: During the U.S. Civil War, a black slave who escaped or was transported across Union lines
Themes & Symbolism edit
- Religion: Describe this theme.
- Color: There is a strong juxtaposition between the colors of black and white. We see it in descriptions of characters and their clothes, both with good and bad people. The colors of black and white are even present in the descriptions of the sky and the surrounding environment. Both colors are used in the good and the bad sense leaving a miriad of questions concerning the lines of good and evil.
Series & Lists edit
This is book 2006 of 85 in Pulitzer Prize Winners - Fiction. (authoritative list)
This is book 102 of 113 in Book Smart Reading List. (community list)
This book is in KCPL Discussion Kit (Aug2010). (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Geraldine Brooks (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Viking
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 0670033359
Page Count: 285
Publisher: Viking
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 0670033359
Page Count: 285
Awards edit
- Pulitzer Prize (2006: Fiction)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PR9619.3.B7153 M37 2005
- Dewey: 823.914
Subjects edit
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