Memorial Days
memoir · First published 2025
A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey toward peace, from the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Horse.
Author guide
Geraldine Brooks Books in Order
Geraldine Brooks is an Australian-American author and former foreign correspondent. Born and raised in Sydney, she worked for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Wall Street Journal, covering environmental issues and conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans. Her six novels include Year of Wonders, March, People of the Book, Caleb’s Crossing, The Secret Chord, and Horse. She has also written the nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire, Foreign Correspondence, The Idea of Home, and the memoir Memorial Days. Brooks won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for March and lives on Martha’s Vineyard while spending time in Australia.
historical fictionliterary fictionnonfictionmemoiressay
Catalog record updated .
Geraldine Brooks's Newest Book
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
Her first novel and a representative entry point to her historical fiction.
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women
Her first published book and an entry point to her nonfiction.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (8)
- Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women
nonfiction · 1994
With a New Afterword. As a prizewinning foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Geraldine Brooks spent six years covering the Middle East through wars, insurrections, and the volcanic upheaval of resurgent fundamentalism. Yet…
- Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
novel · 2001
This gripping historical novel is based on the true story of Eyam, the "Plague Village," in the rugged mountain spine of England. In 1666, a tainted bolt of cloth from London carries bubonic infection to this isolated settlement of…
- March
novel · 2005
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize--a powerful love story set against the backdrop of the Civil War, from the author of The Secret Chord. From Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the…
- People of the Book
novel · 2008
n 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful,…
- Caleb’s Crossing
novel · 2011
A bestselling tale of passion and belief, magic and adventure from the author of The Secret Chord and of March, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Bethia Mayfield is a restless and curious young woman growing up in Martha's vineyard in the…
- The Idea of Home: Boyer Lectures 2011
nonfiction · 2011
- The Secret Chord
novel · 2015
Traces the arc of King David's journey from obscurity to fame, from shepherd to soldier, from hero to traitor, from beloved king to murderous despot and into his remorseful and diminished dotage.
- Horse
novel · 2022
Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has…
Nonfiction (2)
- Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal’s Journey from Down Under to All Over
memoir · 1997
As a young girl in a working-class neighborhood of Sydney, Australia, Geraldine Brooks longed to discover the places where history happens and culture comes from, so she enlisted pen pals who offered her a window on adolescence in the…
- Memorial Days
memoir · 2025
A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey toward peace, from the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Horse.
Frequently asked questions about Geraldine Brooks
Where is Geraldine Brooks from?
Geraldine Brooks was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. She studied at the University of Sydney and Columbia University before establishing her writing career internationally.
Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)english.fas.harvard.edu (opens in a new tab)
What did Geraldine Brooks do before becoming a novelist?
Brooks worked as a journalist, reporting for The Sydney Morning Herald and later covering environmental issues and conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans for The Wall Street Journal.
Sources: english.fas.harvard.edu (opens in a new tab)loc.gov (opens in a new tab)
What influences Geraldine Brooks’s historical fiction?
Her journalism and research into primary historical sources strongly influence her fiction. For example, the Pulitzer Prize citation notes that she drew on Bronson Alcott’s journals and letters when writing March, while scholars describe her work as a feminist reimagining of cultural history.
Sources: pulitzer.org (opens in a new tab)ucrisportal.univie.ac.at (opens in a new tab)
What awards has Geraldine Brooks won?
Brooks won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for March and received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Lifetime Achievement in 2010. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2016 and received the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction in 2025.
Sources: pulitzer.org (opens in a new tab)english.fas.harvard.edu (opens in a new tab)loc.gov (opens in a new tab)
What is Geraldine Brooks’s literary legacy?
Brooks is known for combining the investigative discipline of journalism with deeply researched historical fiction that recovers overlooked perspectives. Her books have been translated into more than 30 languages and sold millions of copies worldwide.
Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)ucrisportal.univie.ac.at (opens in a new tab)