The Glory Cloak [Hardcover]

Patricia O'Brien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2004

From childhood, Susan Gray and her cousin Louisa May Alcott have shared a safe, insular world of outdoor adventures and grand amateur theater-- a world that begins to evaporate with the outbreak of the Civil War. Frustrated with sewing uniforms and wrapping bandages, the two women journey to Washington, D.C.'s Union Hospital to volunteer as nurses. Nothing has prepared them for the horrors of this grueling experience. There they meet the remarkable Clara Barton-- the legendary Angel of the Battlefield-- and she becomes their idol and mentor. Soon one wounded soldier begins to captivate and puzzle them all-- a man who claims to be a blacksmith, but whose appearance and sharp intelligence suggest he might not be who he says he is. Through the Civil War and its chaotic aftermath to the apex of Louisa's fame as the author of Little Women and Lincoln's appointment of Clara to the job of finding and naming the war's missing and dead, this novel is ultimately the story of friendship between women-- women who broke the mold society set for them, while still reckoning with betrayal, love, and forgiveness.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739441906
• ISBN-13: 978-0739441909
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,116,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT STORY, May 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Glory Cloak: A Novel of Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton (Paperback)

This is a great story set in a time of great history with great characters. Pat O'Brien has skillfully woven the lives of Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton into a novel that's exciting to read. As historic events unfold, the friendship between Susan Gray, the fictional narrator of the book, and Louisa May Alcott is tested, broken and finally restored.

The insights into the personalities of Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton were an extra bonus. I especially appreciated the "Afterward" at the end of the book where Ms O'Brien explained where the true facts ended and the fiction began.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, must read book for all women., June 10, 2004

By 

Bonnie Jo Davis "Loves to read and review books!" (Southern CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (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...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Women--Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton, May 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Glory Cloak: A Novel of Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton (Paperback)

The recent discovery in a building in downtown Washington, boarded up for more than one hundred years, of an office where Clara Barton had been seeking the whereabouts (and burial sites) of thousands of missing Civil War soldiers, led Patricia O'Brien to write this tender and exciting tale of what might have happened if Louisa May Alcott--as a volunteer nurse--had met Clara in a vile Washington hospital, and had apparently fallen in love with a wounded soldier who was to move mysteriously through both their lives. No wonder Gore Vidal gave the book such high praise!