“If there is one class of person I have never quite trusted, it is a man who knows no doubt.”–Geraldine Brooks, March

Geraldine Brooks won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for this novel which tells the story of Chaplain March, father of the famous Little Women March girls–Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth. Little Women begins as Marmee and the girls are left behind as their husband and father joins the Union forces as a chaplain. March is the companion book which gives the backstory on Mr. March and his experiences both before and during the war.

March’s war experiences impact his marriage, his family, his faith, and his worldview. Brooks’ writing is compelling, well researched, and has a depth that goes beyond what Louisa May Alcott achieved with Little Women. This is a wonderful addition to Little Women that also sheds light on the horrors of the Civil War and the antebellum South.

Content Advisory: Descriptions of war, references to sex