Trix Wilkins's Blog: Much ado about Little Women, page 6

Little Women and “the answer to every question”

By Trix Wilkins

It’s one of my favorite movie conversations. The one in that hilarious Pride and Prejudice modernization You’ve Got Mail where Joe Fox adamantly tells Kathleen Kelly that “the Godfather is the answer to every question.” This was the sole reason why at the impressionable age of seventeen I consequently watched all three Godfathers.

Joe Fox was wrong. The Godfather did no such thing for me, but perhaps that had more to do with the fact that I personally didn’t have any questions to do with “the family business.”

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Background design courtesy of Canva

The appeal of that line however endures, so I will now brazenly make the same claim – that in Little Women might be found “the answer to every question.” The next aren’t all the questions in the universe(s), but the answers from Little Women have definitely helped me!

Your neighbors can’t afford Christmas dinner

Take your Christmas breakfast or feast over to them. You never know what might come of it. You might make friendships that last a lifetime (all the March sisters, Laurie and Mr Laurence).

You can’t afford to go to the theatre

Write your own plays! Treasure hand-me-down bits, make your own costumes and bring out those special boots on every occasion. Perform for the neighbourhood kids and make your own theatre sets.

Your mother is raising your family on her own

Spend some savings on special gifts for her to let you know how much you appreciate her (all the sisters), help out around the house (Beth), bring her flowers (Laurie).

Your best clothes still don’t suit that fancy party you were politely invited to

Don’t get the one sister or friend you have who doesn’t care a bit about looks to curl your hair (Meg and Jo), do find a good hiding place but do dance (Jo and Laurie), don’t wear tight high heels dancing (Meg).

You’re feeling grumpy about boring work (or just having to work at all)

Tell your sisters and your mother of your woes. Your sisters will probably commiserate with you, and your mother will say something kind and wise to put your “burdens” in perspective (Mrs March).

You have too many books and not enough friends

Share your books! When your neighbour visits you when you are sick, welcome them and tell them plainly they are free to borrow your books. Remember friendships are about quality not quantity (Laurie and Jo).

You’ve been given a generous gift and you don’t have the money to buy one to say thanks

Make a personalized present. Everyone has a talent – use yours to make something special to say thank you, and a personal visit never goes astray (Beth and Mr Laurence).

All the kids at school are doing it…!

Just…Don’t. There are most definitely better things to spend your money on (Amy and the limes).

You want to go out without your younger siblings annoying you

Gentle words are best…Don’t poke the bear and say provoking things to the sibling who gets left at home and who might burn your book in a fit (Jo and Amy).

You want to go out with your siblings and that boy you have a crush on but they won’t let you

Simply wait, he’ll come around (it might be years but sometimes it takes years for them to be ready). Don’t chase them ice skating when you don’t know how to check the ice (Amy).

You keep losing your temper because, well, people…

Leave the room before the words have a chance to come out. And if you do marry anyone, let it be someone loving and patient and who believes you can conquer your temper (Jo and Mrs March).

What are some life lessons you’ve learned from Little Women? 

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Photograph courtesy of Greg Bridges

Trix Wilkins is the author of The Courtship of Jo March: a variation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, for all who have ever wondered how things might have worked out differently for the beloved March sisters. Anniversary edition paperback from $12.95. eBook available from Kobo, Scribd, Apple, and Angus & Robertson for $4.95.

Laurie’s Sonata Pathetique in Little Women

By Trix Wilkins

I’ve been listening to Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique performed by Daniel Barenboim – the song that Laurie plays after proposing to Jo.

It is breathtaking, the beauty and complexity of this piece. I have a greater appreciation as to why Jo’s respect for “the Laurence boy” increased so highly upon hearing him play the piano for the first time.

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When I first read Little Women, I had no idea what Sonata Pathetique actually was, having merely a vague concept of it being “sad.” I assumed it must have been, for Laurie played it upon receiving the most heart-wrenching rejection of his life.

In actuality, the range of emotion expressed in the piece goes far beyond sadness – and the talent involved in even being able to play this song is astounding.

While listening (unfortunately, I do not possess the sort of talent to play it myself), I stumbled across Edwardian Piano’s post about lyrics that were written for the Sonata Pathetique by John Murray Gibbon in 1933.

I wonder whether Gibbon might have had Laurie somewhat in mind when he penned these particular words to match the score:

Vainly longing, ever finding, faltering idly, where shall I wander?…For ever enduring, ever faithful. For ever enduring, holding true.

Perhaps not, but that fateful proposal is what comes to my mind now…

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Photograph courtesy of Greg Bridges

Trix Wilkins is the author of The Courtship of Jo March: a variation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, for all who have ever wondered how things might have worked out differently for the beloved March sisters. 

Little Women summer reading with Orchard House

By Trix Wilkins

It will be Day 4 of the Summer Conversations, and I remain much obliged for the lovely conversation with Orchard House staff in lieu of being there! Thank you for the wonderful reading tips, and I hope to dig into some of these titles soon

Home away from home: Conversations at Orchard House #2

By Trix Wilkins

All photographs courtesy of Orchard House

I must confess, I am feeling really sad at the moment not being at the Summer Conversations in Concord and meeting such kindred spirits in person. I wish I were at Orchard House right now. I’d ask around about the anonymous staff member who took the time to converse with me through the written word, and beg her for a tour!

What a thrill it was to discover that there was at least one other out there in the world who a) found a role model in Jo March and wrote journals as a girl, b) really liked the real life May Alcott (even if she didn’t like Amy March), c) finds that it is the people that make the best part of any home…

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How did you first become involved with Orchard House?

In my heart, I became involved with Orchard House on my very first visit.

I was six years old, I believe, and my grandmother was in town. A lifelong Little Women fan, she was eager to take a tour, even though she had visited Orchard House before. My grandmother, mother, and I began our tour, and I was mesmerized! I wanted to stay forever.

Not long after, my mom read Little Women with me, and my interest in Orchard House just grew and grew. I found a role model in Jo March. I began waking up early in the mornings to go sit in this tiny room under the staircase at our family home, where I would write.

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My mother bought me a Little Women journal from Orchard House, and especially knowing that the Alcott sisters kept journals, I would write in it faithfully.

I wanted to learn more about the real-life family, so I read Invincible Louisa.

And I visited Orchard House. Countless times! On a free weekend, it would always be my request that we tour Orchard House. Many times we did; I was very lucky. I fantasized about giving my own tour there someday. I liked seeing different guides’ styles.

One of my dress-up playing friends had her birthday party at Orchard House! The Director, Jan Turnquist, portrayed Louisa May Alcott, and I absolutely loved it. I kept coming back.

Years later, I was in high school, and a friend of mine began guiding at Orchard House. She happened to e-mail a few of us to say there might be some more guiding openings, in case we were interested.  Needless to say, I was interested!  I replied right away.

I remember practicing my sample tour to a very gracious acquaintance in homeroom; we became closer from that. I already liked how the Alcotts were bringing people together.

Happily, my tour was approved, and I began by giving tours mostly on weekends in high school. My dream came true.

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 Orchard House dining room

What is your favorite thing about Orchard House?

My favorite thing about Orchard House is the people. My co-workers are beyond wonderful. Sympathetic, helpful, funny, kind, generous, open-minded, forgiving, I could go on…I would say they possess many Alcott traits!

Among other things, there are excellent storytellers here, and it is just a pleasure and inspiration to spend time together.

Other folks involved with the House are also absolutely lovely. The Alcotts, too, certainly, I love “spending time” with them. From their own items, letters, and journals, it is incredible to “know” them.

Thanks, too, to the many writers who have brought the Alcotts to life. Writings which are so fascinating, well-researched, and informative. Not only do they help me do a better job here, they are also genuinely a pleasure to read! Authors that sometimes visit are delightful as well.

And our guests! It is an absolute joy to meet our many visitors, who come sometimes with tears in their eyes. Other times, they have never heard of the Alcotts and are totally bored at first! I like them, too. I like them all.

I really like how people from all different backgrounds, with different personalities, are brought together by Orchard House. There is something magical about being gathered together, all these different people, in the Alcott Parlor, say.

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Orchard House Parlor

I remember once I was taking a group through the House. One woman was visiting with her daughter, and she explained to the group at one point that she had come all the way from India, had waited her entire life to visit Orchard House, and that this experience was a dream come true.

At the end, a young man from the tour approached me to confess that he’d been dragged on this tour by his girlfriend, prepared to be miserable, and then, lo and behold, he found himself tearing up in the Parlor when the woman from India shared her story.

I love that! I love how Orchard House has this special quality. It is a joy to share it with people.  Orchard House surprises people, touches, connects them, and all while providing a sense of history, belonging, and inspiration.

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A painting in the study

Tomorrow at the Summer Conversation Series…

July 18 at the Summer Conversations at Orchard House – these next three are sessions I really would have loved to have joined! Hope you get a chance to

A Little Women reminiscence: Conversations at Orchard House #1

By Trix Wilkins

The first day of the Summer Conversations at Orchard House (July 16-20) and how thrilled I am to be able to post this! Sadly I didn’t get to any of the other things from my original Little Women Summer plans – but thanks to the lovely folks at Orchard House, I did get to have a “conversation” with one of their staff, who just fell in love with Little Women and the home in which it was written. Here’s Part 1 of that conversation I’m so pleased to be able to share with you

Laurie’s last appeal to Jo: Little Women’s unwritten letter

By Trix Wilkins

Theodore Laurence wrote one last letter to Jo March whilst on the European Grand Tour, a second proposal of marriage. This is the letter he might have written…

This week was the eighth year anniversary of my husband’s marriage proposal. Eight years is quite a sentimental period of time to me because of Jane Austen’s Persuasion – after a separation of eight years, Captain Wentworth finally declares himself to be unwaveringly devoted to Anne Elliot in one of the most romantic letters in literature.

Inevitably I began musing happily on proposals and passionate handwritten letters – and started thinking about the last love letter Laurie wrote to Jo in Little Women. Louisa May Alcott didn’t include it in the text, referring to its existence simply as follows:

“I haven’t forgotten, I never can. I’ll try again, and if that fails, why then-” Leaving his sentence unfinished, he seized pen and paper and wrote to Jo, telling her that he could not settle to anything while there was the least hope of her changing her mind. Couldn’t she, wouldn’t she – let him come home and be happy?

What might Laurie have written in that letter? Perhaps it went something like this…

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My dearest Jo,

I can almost picture your face at this moment. Not any sort of bliss or romantic sentiment – no, I cannot imagine your emotions capable of being captured with such words – rather firm resolution: to be kind, though it hurts; to do what is right, though it is hard; to sacrifice, that you may benefit another and cling to the wisdom taught you.

I have written you a letter every day. Lies, Teddy, you must be thinking – for certainly, I have sent you hardly a line since your missive; at least, no line that has truly been expressive of my heart and mind. Yet these letters are written, though I hold them still. I told you about London, Vienna, Paris, Rome, Nice…I told you of all that I had seen, all that you would have loved, all that I wished, every day, I could have shared with you.

Lately, I also told you about all you would have hated – most of which, I am ashamed to say, would have related to me. I have done nothing whilst away which I can speak of with any satisfaction. Surely you know this in your heart to be true, though you might not have heard word; you know me. You know the depths to which my soul can sink.

Nobody would knowingly give you alarm in their reports, for how could they, out of love for you? I thought the same for some time. But I can no longer hide the truth from you – what a waste, what a shadow of a man I have been without you. I cannot rest, I cannot settle with any conviction on any course of action, until I act now on the hope that has not faded.

I have known since the day you threw that snowball at my window that I would love no other but you. Perhaps I have not always known it as clearly as now – and how clearly do I now know it! The idea that you would despise me were you to see me, were you to know the full extent of not only my abhorrent behaviour but my selfish resentment…I shudder with such shame that I wonder how I dare to even hold this pen. And yet, strangely enough, it is partly due to this feeling that I owe my current resolve.

Jo, I mean for this leaf to stay turned. I will undertake duty, mortify my pride and my ambition, that I may have the privilege of contributing to the happiness and well-being of those for whom I do care, though I may not care for the work I do on their behalf. I will endeavour to fight my flaws as bravely and as fiercely as you do yours. I only ask that when I do, you may know and believe that it is you who inspires me, who enables me to persist.

To this day, with all that I have seen, all I have met, all I have been given – it is you who have done more for my mind, heart and soul than any other, and no other will ever surpass. I must thank you, and tell you how irreplaceable and indispensable you are to me.

I come to the question that I feel even as I write this, you must be dreading. And yet, though you have given me every reason to know your answer, I am compelled to ask. I must. Everything in my being demands it. A sliver of hope remains that perhaps I do not write in vain; I cling to it, for the courage to continue, and not abandon this letter to the fate of its predecessors.

You raised several objections to our union when we last conversed on this subject. I had been too angry and too resentful to have done you the justice of considering them. Now, having thought on them for some time, I claim my right to respond – for you have always asked for my honesty, and affirmed the security of our friendship, no matter the storms that assail.

Firstly, you said that we are too alike. I admit and own the flaws in my own tempestuous temper, the temper that so closely matches yours. Once I would have made excuses for it; no longer. I would have it changed, whether you choose to marry me or not. Self-control is a virtue for which we both strive, and I see no reason why we could not conquer it.

Secondly, you were adamant that I would come to despise you and long for “a fine mistress for my fine house.” I could barely contain myself, hearing that nonsensical prophetic outburst!

Is this truly what you think of me? That I could and would only be satisfied by external beauty, external graces, external elegance of speech, rather than a true elegance and refinement of mind, heart and soul? Do you really believe that I would value the former, when I have such a friend in you who exemplifies all of the latter?

I had not the words then to reply; I was affronted, I felt you had been unjust. You would have had me give you up – you, the one woman I can imagine beside me, the one person with whom I wish to share my greatest adventures and deepest joys, on whom I unreservedly depend during trials, with whom I have built every aspect of my castle in the air thus far – for a hostess?

How could you not know that I care for none of the things you seem to deem necessary for my happiness? Could we truly have been friends, if I did? If I cared more for the stains on your hands than the brilliant words they poured forth; more for mistaken salt in the strawberries than your hearty conversation; more for the burns on your dresses than the sear of your timely rebukes on my conscience?

Finally, though far be it from me to align my opinion contrary to your wise mother in other circumstances, I am compelled to now. I cannot agree with her assessment that we would not be suitable for marriage. Jo, we will learn what we need to, together. We are both so stubborn, we are bound to succeed were we to only try. I’ve seen you make a masterpiece of a manuscript; you’ve seen me of a piece of music – might we not do the same with our marriage?

I know you care nothing for money – how glad I am that there is no need to appeal to my fortune! – but you do care for friendship and loyalty, and on these I must cast my hand, and assure you that you have mine unreservedly: today, tomorrow, and all the days of my life.

For all that glitters in this world shines dull without you; every exertion feels futile; every hope of my future hinges on your being part of it. You have my ardent love and affection – Jo, will you not also accept my hand in marriage; might I not come home to you, and be happy? My dearest friend, in your answer lies all that this world could ever do for me.

Yours, in perpetuity,

Teddy

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Photograph courtesy of Greg Bridges

Trix Wilkins is the author of The Courtship of Jo March: a variation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, for all who have ever wondered how things might have worked out differently for the beloved March sisters. Available in paperback and an eBook package from $4.95. Other formats available from Kobo, Scribd, Apple, and Angus & Robertson. Sample chapters free to download here.

Who was the real Beth March?

By Trix Wilkins

Nobody has ever studied Elizabeth in depth before; her life is a prime example of being hidden in plain view. Once you start focusing on her, there is much to find. Susan Bailey, Louisa May Alcott is my passion 

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Little Women’s Beth March was a shy, generous and musically gifted young woman – but who was the real Beth, Louisa May Alcott’s sister Elizabeth? Was she the kind and gentle younger sister of fiery Jo and prudent Meg? What was her relationship with younger sister Amy like? Did she have any plans and dreams beyond those ascribed to Beth? And how did she come to die so young?

As little is known of Elizabeth Alcott’s life, author Susan Bailey hopes to shed light on her long neglected story, “a prime example of being hidden in plain view.” It will be the first book of its kind – and as fellow fans of Little Women, she’d love your help. Simply post your answers to one or more of the following questions, and you’ve just contributed to the making of a biography!  

The making of a biography: who was the real Beth March?

By Trix Wilkins

Nobody has ever studied Elizabeth in depth before; her life is a prime example of being hidden in plain view. Once you start focusing on her, there is much to find. Susan Bailey, Louisa May Alcott is my passion 

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Little Women’s Beth March was a shy, generous and musically gifted young woman – but who was the real Beth, Louisa May Alcott’s sister Elizabeth? Was she the kind and gentle younger sister of fiery Jo and prudent Meg? What was her relationship with younger sister Amy like? Did she have any plans and dreams beyond those ascribed to Beth? And how did she come to die so young?

As little is known of Elizabeth Alcott’s life, author Susan Bailey hopes to shed light on her long neglected story, “a prime example of being hidden in plain view.” It will be the first book of its kind – and as fellow fans of Little Women, she’d love your help. Simply post your answers to one or more of the following questions, and you’ve just contributed to the making of a biography!  

16 lines I’d love to see in the new Little Women series

By Trix Wilkins

PBS Masterpiece has announced the cast for their upcoming Little Women series – which brought to mind some lines from Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic that would be brilliant to see onscreen…

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Amy: “I never saw anyone faint…If I can go down easily, I’ll drop; if I can’t I shall fall into a chair and be graceful; I don’t care if Hugo does come at me with a pistol.”

Laurie: “I don’t like fuss and feathers.”

Amy: “We don’t wish any boys; they only joke and bounce about. This is a ladies’ club, and we wish to be private and proper.”

Laurie: “Please give these to your mother, and tell her I like the medicine she sent me very much.”

Laurie: “What do you most wish for?” Jo: “Genius; don’t you wish you could give it to me, Laurie?”

John Brooke: “It was too bad to laugh at the poor little jelly pots.”

Laurie: “I knew a girl, once, who had a really remarkable talent for music, and she didn’t know it; never guessed what sweet little things she composed when she was alone, and wouldn’t have believed it if anyone had told her.”

Aunt March: “What is father’s friend saying, to make you look like a peony? There’s mischief going on, and I insist upon knowing what it is!”

Jo: “I’m sure now that I shouldn’t be afraid of him, for he’s got kind eyes, though his mouth is grim, and he looks as if he had a tremendous will of his own.”

Marmee: “Money is a needful and precious thing – and, when well used, a noble thing – but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for.”

Jo: “So we’re to countenance things and people which we detest, merely because we are not belles or millionaires, are we?”

James Laurence: “I have had many pairs of slippers in my life, but I never had any that suited me so well as yours…I remain, your grateful friend and humble servant.”

Laurie: “Why, Jo, your stories are works of Shakespeare compared to half the rubbish that’s published every day. Won’t it be fun to see them in print, and shan’t we feel proud of our authoress?”

Fred: “Which [lady] do you like best?” Laurie: “Jo, of course.”

P.S. The Little Women Casting Announcement 

Meg: Willa Fitzgerald

Jo: Maya Hawke

Beth: Annes Elwy

Amy: Kathryn Newton

Marmee: Emily Watson

Laurie: Jonah Hauer-King

James Laurence: Michael Gambon

Aunt March: Angela Lansbury

What lines from the novel would you like to see featured in the upcoming Little Women series?

Farewell to a haven: of writing, of coffee, of friends

All photos courtesy of The Blend Café and the generous people involved in its being… 

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Something is about to happen that has never happened to me before.

I have never in my life felt, “There is only ever going to be one place in the world like this. And it is this place.” Until this week. For the first time, I feel exactly like this. And now, just when I have worked out what I feel, this once-in-a-lifetime-place will be lost to me, perhaps forever.

The moment I have finally begun to realize how significant it has been to me, in a matter of days it will cease to exist.

For love of coffee

For it had become my home away from home. A place to think. A place to read. A place to write. A place that had been lovingly and painstakingly put together, every detail thought out; it was in itself was a work of art. Most of all it was a place with people who were not only friendly, but genuinely cared; people who had become friends, however unexpectedly that had occurred. And it had brilliant coffee. Every other coffee was so spoiled for me, I would rather go without than have anything else.

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For love of reading

I had begun to take my daughter there for mummy-daughter dates to read to her. She would have a little cup of milk with a teaspoon (because mummy has a teaspoon with her latte). Sometimes she would have a heart cookie, sometimes cheesy toast. She would put the sugar in my coffee, learned to pay using my credit card; I would cuddle her and read books. Meg once made a butterfly for her out of heart cookies, icing sugar and raspberry coulis. From that day she loved Meg. Meg also gave her foam with rainbow sprinkles out of the blue. It was that sort of place.

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For love of writing

Sometimes she would just want to play with stickers and I would get to write. I wrote my first and only novel there. (I also wrote at home and the train, but so many new ideas started at the café in scribbles such as Frank Vaughn, the Vienna World Fair, that fight between Jo and Laurie…) I’m fairly certain I would not have written The Courtship of Jo March had it not existed, had it not been somewhere I could bask in the old world surrounds and music and write with joy. I couldn’t have written it without their careful and kind service in this lovely place I could retreat from routine and simply imagine.

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For love of art

My husband bought a painting for me from the café for our wedding anniversary, depicting a journey through a beautiful landscape. It’s special to me for so many reasons, for it represents a promise of things that are, and things that are to come – that we would journey together through this world, this lifetime, on many adventures. This now hangs in our dining room, and I smile at it every day. If we could afford it I would buy twenty more such works of art from the owner and give them away as gifts.

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If you’re thinking, “A café sells paintings?” Yes, this one did. The place was full of beautiful art. Even the mirror had been handmade. (I’m pretty sure the benchtop had been too, a real to life version of the Giant Coffee Machine.) There were shelves of books, a window seat, an old fashioned typewriter, an Iron Man mask. I don’t think any other place in the world has both an antique typewriter and an Iron Man mask…

Moreover, the owner of this café – the one who painted the paintings and procured the typewriter and provided the books – was the same guy who made the breakfasts and drinks with names like Tesla’s Flame. Without being asked, he promoted my book and took the lovely photo I’ve used in social media posts ever since. (Thank you, Greg Bridges. You deserve to be a rich and famous artist, and I hope this goes in some way towards that! Here’s a link to a brilliant art collection almost beyond imagining.)

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For love of friends

I don’t really know why the café is closing. I’m almost afraid to ask. I think part of me feels that if I don’t ask, it won’t happen, that perhaps it is not really happening even as I write this. Perhaps today really wasn’t the last day I would go to work after having stopped by for my morning coffee. Perhaps this time next week, it will still be there, and we would still see friends. Perhaps my daughter and I will take our morning walk, and we will cuddle and read on the red velvet couch, I with my coffee and she with her milk.

I have no new words for how I feel – I can only borrow these words from You’ve Got Mail, “The truth is, I am heartbroken. I feel like a part of me has died.”

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To all the staff at The Blend Café, thank you.

Thank you for the way you have enriched our lives in more ways than I can say, in more ways than I even know. Thank you for the way you have served us so well.

You didn’t merely prepare food and drinks. You brought joy and delight to us. You surprised us.

You made a place for us that was like no other, and will be like no other. You created a haven that was so pleasant and homely it was always hard to leave.

Thank you for your generosity, your timely encouragement, and your cheerful and courteous greetings.

Only once in life is such a place, with such people, ever found – and how grateful I am to have had this time with you all; it has been so wonderful, it’s felt only a short while, and I wish there were more time.

How you will be missed. How dearly and how sadly you will be missed!

Yours sincerely,

Trix Wilkins