The bestselling novel that inspired Mervyn LeRoy’s classic horror film about the little girl who can get away with anything—even murder.There’s something special about eight-year-old Rhoda Penmark. With her carefully plaited hair and her sweet cotton dresses, she’s the very picture of old-fashioned innocence. But when their neighborhood suffers a series of terrible accidents, her mother begins to wonder: Why do bad things seem to happen when little Rhoda is around?...

William March's debut novel, Company K, introduced him to the reading public as a gifted writer of modern fiction. Of that World War I classic, Graham Greene wrote: "It is the only war book I have read which has found a new form to fit the novelty of the protest. The prose is bare, lucid, without literary echoes." After Company K, March brought his same unerring style to a cycle of novels and short stories–his "Pearl County" series–inspired in part by his childhood in the...

William March's debut novel, Company K, introduced him to the reading public as a gifted writer of modern fiction. Of that World War I classic, Graham Greene wrote: "It is the only war book I have read which has found a new form to fit the novelty of the protest. The prose is bare, lucid, without literary echoes." After Company K, March brought his same unerring style to a cycle of novels and short stories–his "Pearl County" series–inspired in part by his childhood in the...

William March's debut novel, Company K, introduced him to the reading public as a gifted writer of modern fiction. Of that World War I classic, Graham Greene wrote: “It is the only war book I have read which has found a new form to fit the novelty of the protest. The prose is bare, lucid, without literary echoes.” After Company K, March brought his same unerring style to a cycle of novels and short stories—his “Pearl County” series—inspired in part by his childhood in the...

Through fragmented testimonies of Marines, the novel exposes the psychological and moral wreckage left in the wake of modern warfare.This book was originally published in 1933. It is the first novel by William March, pen name for William Edward Campbell. Stemming directly from the author's experiences with the US Marines in France during World War I, the book consists of 113 sketches, or chapters, tracing the fictional Company K's war exploits and providin...

''The Bad Seed'' by William March (1893-1954), public domain. What happens to ordinary families into whose midst a child serial killer is born? This is the question at the center of William March's classic thriller. After its initial publication in 1954, the book went on to become a million-copy bestseller, a wildly successful Broadway show, and a Warner Brothers film. The spine-tingling tale of little Rhoda Penmark had a tremendous impact on the thriller genre and generated a whole perdur...

The Collected Short Stories of William March

Walt stood up, slapped his thighs, and began to crow like a cock. 'Bring on the whole German army!' he shouted. 'Bring them on all together, or one at a time. I can whip them all!'The greatest First World War novel to come out of America, Company K is the unforgettable account of one US Marine company, from initial training, through to the trenches in France and post-war rehabilitation.Written in 1933 by a decorated

The Classic Collection of William March brings together two of the author’s most powerful and enduring works, The Bad Seed and Company K, in an illustrated edition that highlights the range and depth of his literary vision. In Company K, March offers a stark and innovative portrayal of World War I through a series of brief, interconnected monologues spoken by ordinary soldiers. Their voices—marked by fear, guilt, and disillusionment—form a haunting mosaic that exposes the psychological and...

Superb stories, meaningful themes, and powerful effectsAt the time of his death, the longest manuscript still in William March's possession was a collection of fables, which he had completed for the first time in 1938. While Company K, The Tallons, The Bad Seed, and all the rest were in progress, March culled and rewrote, polished and revised these fables, always finding them “too good to destroy,” yet never finding them a good venture fo...

Company K by William March is a powerful and unconventional portrayal of war, offering a stark and deeply human account of soldiers’ experiences during World War I. Rather than following a single narrative line, the novel is composed of a series of brief, interconnected monologues—each voiced by a different member of Company K. Through these fragmented perspectives, March presents a mosaic of memories, emotions, and moral conflicts, revealing the psychological toll of war on ordinary men. ...

The Bad Seed by William March is a chilling psychological novel that explores the unsettling possibility that evil may be innate rather than learned. The story centers on a seemingly perfect young girl—charming, polite, and intelligent—whose outward innocence conceals something far more disturbing. As a series of troubling events begins to unfold, her mother is forced to confront a terrifying question: can a child be born without conscience, capable of manipulation and cruelty beyond her y...