March - Geraldine Brooks (Book Club)

The inspiration for this book was taken from the book Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. The father of the March family has little mention in the original novel. From Little Women we know that Mr. March left his family to serve in the war as a chaplain, an occasional letter was written home and read aloud to his daughters, a telegram arrived informing Mrs. March that her husband was very ill, and that he did eventually return home to his family. March tells the story of what Mr. March was up to during his time in the war.

Throughout the novel the reader gets a birds-eye view of Mr. March’s activities as part of the Union Army, for which he served as a chaplain and later a teacher to “freed” slaves and their children. In his journey he stumbles upon a house he had known in his past, and in it the same slave women, Grace, whom he developed a special relationship with as a younger man. Grace is a strong presence throughout his year of service, and one of the strongest characters in the book. Mr. March himself is a very complex character, and the author does a wonderful job of helping the reader to feel his emotions and the weight of the difficult decisions he has to make. Often Mr. March is caught between a rock and a hard place; whatever decision he chooses will likely result in some terrible consequence, mostly to those whom he has come to assist. But he must often choose the lesser of two evils, and in his heart and actions attempts to hold true to his religious and personal ideals. His relationship with Grace and his attachment to the other slaves make his decisions all the more personal and tough to bear. He holds himself to such high standards that his guilt nearly becomes his death, and he learns a hard lesson from the woman he held on a pedestal for so many years.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, and it spurred some very good conversation in our book club. Mr. March was a changed man when he returned from the war, both physically and mentally. He carried a lot of guilt for what he had seen and done, and felt helpless that he could not do more to see results. His family at home had also changed, but in different ways. These are issues that ring very true in today’s time as well, with the war going on in Iraq.

No need to have read Little Women to enjoy or understand this book, it stands on its own. You don’t even have to be that interested in the Civil War to like it. The characters are excellent and well-developed, and you’ll find yourself wrapped up in Mr. March’s conflict and asking yourself “what would I do?”