Anyone who has read Louisa Mae Alcott's Little Women will
likely remember the vague, background figure of the father of the four little
women. For most of that book, he was far
from home fighting the Civil War. In
this Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Geraldine Books brings him to life, calling
him only "March," the family's last name.
She paints March as a strong believer in the Union cause, but he
is too idealistic and totally unprepared for the horrors of the war he is about
to become involved in. The story follows March as he leaves behind his family
and heads off to join the Union troops as a Chaplin.
But before leaving, and without consulting his wife, Marmee, he
gives nearly all of the family's fortune away to support the losing cause of
John Brown, leaving his family to live on the very edge of poverty, barely
surviving and only with the reluctant help of the family's Aunt March.
Behind the lines of the battlefield, March comes face to face
with violence, suffering, and the unexpected cruelty and racism of both
Northerners and Southerners. His faith
in himself and in his religious and political convictions are mightily tested.
But his letters to his family are intentionally evasive and cheerful, never
revealing the challenges and discouragement he faces daily. March becomes attached to a field hospital
where he is faced with violence and horrible suffering which he is powerless to
prevent.
He re-unites with Grace, a beautiful, well-educated Black nurse
who he met years ago while working as a peddler, selling his wares to various
Connecticut plantations. When his sexual
indiscretion with Grace becomes known, March is sent to a plantation where
recently freed slaves are able to earn money.
But while he struggles with his duties as a Chaplin, he becomes
seriously ill from the horrors he has experienced, his guilt and total
disillusionment. Marmee is sent for and
eventually is able to bring him home from the Washington hospital, a sick,
broken man, and an invalid. His belief
in himself is shattered. He is a changed
man.
Then we learn the behind-the-scenes story of Marmee, the strong,
outspoken and loving mother who kept her family together during their wartime struggles. She is both enraged and deeply hurt when she
learns of March's indiscretion. His
actions have driven a wedge between Marmee and March. Marmee is again left to struggle with keeping
her family together and nursing her invalid husband. — by Gail Stilwill.
