- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (April 6 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743257502
- ISBN-13: 978-0743257503
- Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 20.3 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #792,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
Women's friendships are at the center of this appealing historical novel that spans the years 1850 to 1888 and links the lives of Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton. Narrator Susan Gray, a fictitious third cousin who joins the Alcott household after being orphaned in her teens, is 10 years Louisa's junior but becomes her confidant. Together, Louisa and Susan leave home to join the Civil War effort by nursing at a Washington hospital, where they meet Barton, a beloved figure on battlefields, and injured soldier John Sulie, allegedly a blacksmith with suspiciously gentlemanly ways. As love grows between Sulie and Louisa, Susan also is attracted to him, leading to relationships complicated by war, politics, illness, and emotion and a rift in the friendship that takes years to mend. O'Brien, whose previous novels were contemporary, does a nice job with the language of the period and provides an afterword to help separate fact from fiction. With its vivid portrayals of a wartime hospital and of Andersonville, this is a briskly paced, engaging work of historical fiction. Michele Leber
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Robert Morgan bestselling author of Gap Creek From the radical, transcendentalist village life of nineteenth-century Concord, Massachusetts, to the horrors of the Civil War hospitals in Washington, D.C., Patricia O'Brien has given us a portrait of our country at its time of greatest peril and greatest hope. Part romance, part mystery, part history, The Glory Cloak is most of all a story of remarkable women, their private struggles and public deeds that helped make possible the best of our own world.
Gore Vidal Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton are splendid protagonists in this vivid and revealing story of our Civil War.
Gore Vidal Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton are splendid protagonists in this vivid and revealing story of our Civil War.
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First Sentence
He was so little, the colored boy wedged in Abba's oven. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
He was so little, the colored boy wedged in Abba's oven. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting fictional tale of Louisa May Alcott,
By
This review is from: The Glory Cloak: A Novel of Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton (Paperback)
This was an interesting novel and kept me entertained throughout. I have to admit not being a fan of Alcott, I may have read Little Women when I was younger, but I don't recall it. That will be to be on my TBR list for the future.The story is told in the first person by Alcott's fictional cousin, Susan Gray. She recounts their childhood, family and famous residents of Concord. As adults, the Civil War begins and Mary and Louisa volunteer as nurses in a Washington DC hospital, where they meet the famous nurse and activist Clara Barton, and the mysterious patient John Sulie, who Louisa is strongly attracted to. Do be warned, this was not a pretty war, nor was the aftermath on the wounded soldiers. The author doesn't pull any punches here. The story then shifts to the aftermath of the Civil War, and Clara Barton's mission to account for all the missing and dead soldiers, which the government would prefer to remain unaccounted for. The book finishes with the remainder of Louisa's life in Condord until her death. While Susan is a fictional cousin, it was a good way to bring the reader closer to Alcott's inner circle and know her better. Some parts of the story play a little loose with known history, which are acknowledged in the author's notes at the end of the book. All in all an entertaining read, but as I previously noted, I'm not a huge fan of Alcott. Good read, but not one I'm likely to take off the shelf and read again every few years.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, must read book for all women.,
By Bonnie Jo Davis "Loves to read and review books!" (Southern CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Glory Cloak: A Novel of Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton (Paperback)
The Glory Cloak is an empowering book that shows what women can accomplish under the worst of circumstances. This novel centers around Clara Barton and Louisa May Alcott during and after the Civil War and ties their stories together through a fictional character named Susan that portrays a cousin to Louisa. This is the story of a lifelong friendship, women surviving and thriving while cleaning up the messes made my men and most importantly chronicles the accomplishments of women smart enough to stay single and childfree despite the pressures of society. I only wish I had read this book thirty years ago...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book!!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Glory Cloak: A Novel of Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton (Paperback)
I was casually browsing through my local bookstore when I glanced at this book and noticing the positive blurb on the cover by Gore Vidal, picked it up. I am a big fan of Vidal's historical fiction and essays and so I bought this book. I am so glad I did! It is a beautiful book that brings a fascinating time and place alive again. Here are Civil War Washington and the literary community in Concord brought to vivid life. The writing was supurb and the story of Louisa, Clara and Susan was riveting. I was sorry that the book had to end. Bravo!
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