Continuing my Geraldine Brooks journey with her sophomore novel, MARCH. 🌱🖌️ In #March, Brooks shifts focus to explore what Louisa May Alcott skillfully neglected in LITTLE WOMEN. Firstly it tells the story of Mr. March, the prodigal father of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, who, though in absence throughout Alcott’s novel, is made flesh in Brooks’ hands. Secondly it is a reckoning with the horrors of the Civil War, which, though the backdrop of #LittleWomen, remained untouched by Alcott for the sake of telling a much different tale. . . Brooks’ tactile writing carries over from her debut, YEAR OF WONDERS, as does the gentle tonality of her narrator. But where Anna in #YearOfWonders skews more sincere, Mr. March has a touch of irony that makes him all the more endearing. Brooks also takes a more postmodern approach in MARCH—skipping in time, adding epistolary entries, never focusing specifically on place—to allow more emphasis on thematic exploration than plot. Prompted are nuanced conversations of fidelity, attraction, intellect, anger, and morality. And along the way, small episodes pay charming homage to Alcott’s foundational text. . . Both as a response to LITTLE WOMEN and as a stand-alone novel, MARCH is so successful. I loved it. . . Out from @penguinbooks . . #TeamPRH