If you read Little Women, you have already met the protagonist

of this novel. Mr. March was the stern father of Jo and her sisters, and he was absent for most of the year that her story took place. He was away ministering to the Union Army, and his family was proud of him. I was glad he was gone because I thought he sounded mean.

Geraldine Brooks bases her character on this Mr. March, and he, too, has become a chaplain during the Civil War. He is a firm abolitionist, and has left his family in rather dire financial straits while he goes off to serve his conscience. He is still the character from Little Women, and writes to his daughters and Marmee. (It seems that for this novel, that's her nickname, not some version of "Mommy.")

Brooks has done extensive research on the time period and the war. She uses Louisa Mae Alcott's father as the model for Mr. March, though many characteristics differ. In any case, March is a pious, good man, who finds himself out of his league in the army. He is courageous, but simply doesn't know how to cope. In his first battle, the Union Army has to retreat across a river, and he loses his grip on a soldier he was trying to save. The incident haunts him.

When he reaches the house where a hospital has been established, he encounters a slave woman whom he met years before. He remembers another experience where he was far from a hero. When he continues to try to help the recently freed slaves, his commanding officer tells him to request reassignment to work with the "contraband." He soon finds himself helping at a plantation that is growing cotton for the Union cause.

By this time, we have learned more about March through his letters and flashbacks, and are sympathetic with his trials and disappointments, as well as his struggle with his conscience. He has much to endure before the novel is over. Later a few chapters are told from Marmee's point of view, and we learn even more.

There seems to have been a rash of Civil War books this year. I hesitated to read another, but couldn't resist the reflections from an old favorite. In addition to my personal motivation, I had to pay attention when March received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction this year.

Brooks has done a masterful job of creating a new story about familiar characters. Mr. March is a creation who will live on.

March the novel will soon be available at the Mary Willis Library.