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y separately published work icon March single work   novel   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 2005... 2005 March
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

"An idealistic abolitionist, March has gone as chaplain to serve the Union cause. But the war tests his faith not only in the Union, which is also capable of barbarism and racism, but in himself. As he recovers from a near-fatal illness, March must reassemble and reconnect with his family, who have no idea of what he has endured. A love story set in a time of catastrophe, March explores the passions between a man and a woman, the tenderness of parent and child, and the life-changing power of an ardently held belief." -- Book Jacket

Notes

  • March tells the story of the predominantly absent father depicted in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.
  • Dedication: For Darleen and Cassie - by no means little women.
  • Selected as the featured book for British television's The Richard & Judy Book Club on 8 March 2006.
  • Brooks based March's voice on the journals and letters of Bronson Alcott, Louisa May's father - a friend and confidant of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In Brook's telling, March emerges as an idealistic chaplain in the little known backwaters of a war that will test his faith in himself and in the Union cause as he learns that his side, too, is capable of acts of barbarism and racism. As he recovers from a near mortal illness, he must reassemble his shattered mind and body and find a way to reconnect with a wife and daughters who have no idea of the ordeals he has been through.--Adapted from Trove.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Pymble, Turramurra - Pymble - St Ives area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Fourth Estate , 2005 .
      image of person or book cover 1091391233654763086.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 346p.
      ISBN: 0732278414
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Penguin Books ,
      2005 .
      image of person or book cover 6474551189826210667.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 280p.
      ISBN: 9780143036661
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Viking ,
      2005 .
      image of person or book cover 8580768667443237077.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 280p.
      Reprinted: 2008
      ISBN: 0670033359; 9780670033355
    • Pymble, Turramurra - Pymble - St Ives area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: HarperCollins Australia , 2006 .
      image of person or book cover 3876366231386922926.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 346, 16p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Includes a sixteen page 'P.S.' section that features an interview with Brooks and facts about the novel's background. The latter is written by the author.
      ISBN: 9780732278427, 0732278422
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Penguin Books ,
      2014 .
      image of person or book cover 1967627682886010988.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9781101079256 (ebk), 1101079258 (ebk)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Harper Perennial ,
      2017 .
      image of person or book cover 3354786214137944670.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9780007369225 (ebk), 0007369220 (ebk)
Alternative title: Auf freiem Feld
Language: German
    • Munich,
      c
      Germany,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Btb ,
      2005 .
      image of person or book cover 7709235851128974741.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 349p.
      ISBN: 3442733138

Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.

Works about this Work

Geraldine Brooks, Historical Fiction and Australian Writers in the US Anne Pender , 2020 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 20 no. 2 2020;

'A number of Australian expatriate authors in the United States have made an impact on the American public in a variety of genres: Lily Brett, Geraldine Brooks, Peter Carey, Shirley Hazzard, Thomas Keneally, Jill Ker Conway, Sumner Locke Elliott, Robert Hughes, Kate Jennings, Christina Stead, Janette Turner Hospital and others. In addition, the experiences of these writers in the United States have informed their work in distinctive ways that have been important to Australian literature, and to Australian literary culture. Contemporary Australian authors such as Chloe Hooper and Nam Le have undertaken creative writing training in the US,  and have returned to live in Australia.

'Over the last twenty years however, the globalisation of the book trade has not dissolved the concept of the expatriate writer, or removed the problems for writers linked to origin, readership, visibility, remuneration for, and recognition of their work. In fact, ironically, it seems that there is a renewed imperative for Australian writers to live outside Australia in order to gain access to a global readership and lucrative publishing opportunities. The success of high-profile expatriate writers in the US, such as Brooks and Carey, supports this claim.

'This article considers the historical fiction of Geraldine Brooks who is, alongside Peter Carey, an exceptionally successful author with an immense readership in the US and across the world. Unlike Carey, however, Brooks is largely ignored by Australian critics. The article explores Brooks’ fiction in the context of her career as a war correspondent, her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel March (2005), and the effect of her many years covering war and conflict on her work. It examines the distinctive potency of Brooks’ fiction in the context of historical fiction as an evolving genre for contemporary audiences.' (Publication abstract)

Fictions Mine History for Truth and Humanity Stella Clarke , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 October 2012; (p. 22)

— Review of March Geraldine Brooks , 2005 single work novel
A Civil War for Delicate Minds Greer Gamble , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Quadrant , January-February vol. 56 no. 1/2 2012; (p. 60-61)
The Silver Age of Fiction Peter Pierce , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 110-115)

‘In human reckoning, Golden Ages are always already in the past. The Greek poet Hesiod, in Works and Days, posited Five Ages of Mankind: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic and Iron (Ovid made do with four). Writing in the Romantic period, Thomas Love Peacock (author of such now almost forgotten novels as Nightmare Abbey, 1818) defined The Four Ages of Poetry (1820) in which their order was Iron, Gold, Silver and Bronze. To the Golden Age, in their archaic greatness, belonged Homer and Aeschylus. The Silver Age, following it, was less original, but nevertheless 'the age of civilised life'. The main issue of Peacock's thesis was the famous response that he elicited from his friend Shelley - Defence of Poetry (1821).’ (Publication abstract)

Untitled Stefanie Schäfer , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Zweiundzwanzig amerikanische Romane aus dem neuen Jahrhundert: literaturkritische Essays zur Einführung 2009; (p. 85-94)

— Review of March Geraldine Brooks , 2005 single work novel
Chaplain at Large Ruth Morse , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 25 February no. 5317 2005; (p. 22)

— Review of March Geraldine Brooks , 2005 single work novel
Faith of Their Father Karen Joy Fowler , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Washington Post , 13 March 2005; (p. TO9)

— Review of March Geraldine Brooks , 2005 single work novel
Pictures from a Peculiar Institution Thomas Mallon , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The New York Times Book Review , 27 March vol. 110 no. 13 2005; (p. 11)

— Review of March Geraldine Brooks , 2005 single work novel
Feat Begins with a Grain of Salt Lucy Clark , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Telegraph , 27 March 2005; (p. 82)

— Review of March Geraldine Brooks , 2005 single work novel
Our Father 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Economist , 26 March 2005; (p. 374)

— Review of March Geraldine Brooks , 2005 single work novel
The Home Front Murray Waldren , 2005 single work biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19-20 March 2005; (p. 4-6)
Marching On With Another Novel Idea Bron Sibree , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 2 April 2005; (p. 11-12)
March to the Front Catherine Keenan , 2005 single work biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 9-10 April 2005; (p. 22)
A Life Beyond Bland Street Jane Sullivan , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 30 April 2005; (p. 3)
A Question of Character that Runs and Runs Michelle Griffin , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 7 May 2005; (p. 3)
Last amended 5 Nov 2019 09:42:11
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