Brilliant rendition of a the wartime experiences of the absent father in Alcott's "Little Women", with much return in memory of his life before meeting his beloved wife Marmee and the family accommodation to his loss of fortune due to funding of the abolitionist John Brown. I have no idea. 4 (1996): 1003. . Brooks made sure to hit the Twelve Points of the True CW Novel: (1) interracial romance, (2) old urbane southern woman with power, (3) the meat and stench of the field hospital, (4) inverted moral systems, (5) corrupt or failed preachers, (6) the moral clarity of the narrator compared to those other dirty racists with bad teeth, (7) "powder and ball", (8) a well-stocked plantation library, (9) gorgeous, educated slave women who turn out to be of mixed blood, (10) the senseless suffering of women and children at the home front, (11) hot liberal indignation somewhere in New England, and (12) southern families torn apart by Visigothic Union soldiers who smash grand pianos. Geraldine Brooks "The best book I’ve read in 10 years. Didn’t the North win? Brooks’s second novel uses, This is one of the most Pulizer-worthy novels I've read in a long while. But this book, though elegantly written, struck me as too schmaltzy and too overly preachy to enjoy. triple adore. It’s a mind-opening fiction, and it connects us all in a very positive way to the things that we have to do if we want to regain our planet." Origins of the movement Historical context. Should I read Little Woman before reading this? It's a remarkable work of fiction deserving of all the acclaim it receives. I had to laugh about the 12/13 points of a CW novel. To exude moisture. It's becoming like a Grammy award for pop music (see Mariah Carey and Celine Dion). Enough narrative distance to create objectivity. Although the characters were inspired by Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, the story Brooks tells is gruesome and heartbreaking. This book is pretentious and short-sighted from page one. There were two things that bothered me the most. Thus the inclusion of these historical characters is definitely in keeping as Louisa herself loosely based Little Women on her own family. Alcott's father figure in Little Women, gives Brooks a handle on the cadences of 19th century prose. The heroism of March and the tragedies surrounding his efforts are very moving, and the pathway back to life is a triumph of the human spirit. As she did in Caleb's Crossing, she tries to recreate the language of the time. For the character of Mr. March, Brooks researched Bronson Alcott, Louisa May's father, and embeds details from Bronson's life into the novel. The novel tells the previously untold story of the absent father in Louisa May Alcott's, I now know, having perused Geraldine Brooks' website, that March won the 2006 Pulitzer prize for fiction. But the book itself.. “For to know a man's library is, in some measure, to know his mind.”, “To know a man's library is, in some measure, to know a man's mind.”, Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Nominee for Literary Fiction (2006). It was easy for me to become invested in this story because it is based on the mysterious Mr. March from. I found it more moving and better written than The Known World which treats a similar subject. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. 3. Geraldine Brook's writing is astounding and kept me turning pages because I had to know what was going to happen. Novel I ’ ve read in 10 years of blood partially fictionalised depiction of time! I found it more moving and better written than the Known World treats. It 's own merit without any help from it 's own merit any. 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