Trix Wilkins's Blog: Much ado about Little Women, page 8

Beth March’s legacy: the bashful beauty of Little Women

By Trix Wilkins

Twenty years after the first time I read Little Women, I’m still discovering new things within it that astonish me. I re-read this beloved classic for the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge and have been struck afresh by things I hadn’t fully comprehended about Beth March until now – things that challenge me as to what true beauty is.

“The beauty and the sweetness of Beth’s nature, to feel how deep and tender a place she filled in all hearts, and to acknowledge the worth of Beth’s unselfish ambition, to live for others, and make home happy by the exercise of those simple virtues which all may possess, and which all should love and value more than talent, wealth, or beauty.”

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She takes initiative

It is Beth who suggests to her sisters that they use their Christmas money to purchase their mother special gifts. Before she does so, all her sisters are planning to spend the money on luxuries they feel they deserve and have been unjustly deprived of.

When James Laurence gifts her with his beloved granddaughter’s piano, to everyone’s astonishment (in one sense what is actually astonishing is the fact that anyone is shocked by this!), Beth doesn’t hesitate to do exactly what she both feels and knows is the most fitting way to express her thankfulness and affection, “for love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride.”

“Only remembering that he had lost the little girl that he loved, she put both arms round his neck and kissed him.”

She appreciates and loves people as they are

Just after Jo gets her first story published, she and Laurie run all over the garden and laugh over the newspaper in Amy’s bower. Meg disapproves, saying of Jo, “She never will behave like a young lady,” to which Beth replies, “I hope she won’t; she is so funny and dear as she is.”

She’s an encourager and believes in the potential of people

Beth is described as someone “who firmly believed that her sisters were gifted with wonderful genius in all things.” When Jo finally tells her sisters about her published story, Beth exclaims, “I knew it! I knew it! Oh, my Jo, I am so proud!”

Then when their father comes home for Christmas and begins to tell his girls how proud he is of them, Beth specifically asks him to acknowledge and encourage Jo.

She is passionate and patient in pursuing that which is dear to her

There is such a confidence and joy in Beth while she plays the piano. I love the way Louisa describes how Beth loved music:

“Forgot her fear, herself, and everything else but the unspeakable delight which the music gave her, for it was like the voice of a beloved friend.”

Not only did she play well, she also composed – a thing Laurie notices and encourages her in one day while he’s playing chess with Jo (which Jo likes so much that she lets him win the game, and I just have to ask, how did Jo not fall in love with Laurie at that very moment?).

“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.”

It saddens me that Beth never got a chance to really pursue music. She is eventually gifted with a piano and with new sheets of music, but unfortunately not the means to learn beyond her existing capabilities. Her persistence in the face of such neglect is all the more admirable.

“She loved music so dearly, tried so hard to learn, and practised away so patiently at the jingling old instrument, that it did seem as if someone (not to hint Aunt March) ought to help her. Nobody did, however, and nobody saw Beth wipe the tears off the yellow keys, that wouldn’t keep in tune when she was all alone.”

She notices what’s beyond the surface, beyond the gruff exterior

This is one of my favorite scenes of Beth. The sisters are telling each other stories of their day, and Beth recalls how she saw Mr Laurence give a poor woman a fish for herself and her children after she had been disappointed of a day’s work (and rebuffed by the fish shop owner).

When things go wrong, she’s sympathetic

When Meg’s hair is burnt off in her attempt at fine curls and Jo blames Meg for having asked her to do something she’s not good at, Beth is the one to comfort her older sister.

She can be strong while others fall apart

When a telegram calls for Mrs March to come to her ill husband in Washington, it is Beth who goes to the piano to play their father’s favorite hymn. And it is her voice that is last to falter.

“All began bravely, but broke down one by one until Beth was left alone, singing with all her heart, for to her music was always a sweet consoler.”

She does the work she hates for the sake of the people she loves

I assumed Beth liked housekeeping because she is described doing so diligently whilst singing songs – but she really doesn’t at all. She thinks it “the worst work in the world” because afterwards her hands are so stiff that she can’t play the piano.

When her sisters voice their “burdens” and Marmee says she doesn’t think Beth has any, she eloquently informs them all that actually, she does: the work that goes into keeping their home comfortable is very trying to her.

Sadly, when Mrs March goes to Washington her sisters often forget their duties, leaving Beth to take up these tedious tasks out of love for them and honor for her mother at great personal cost.

“There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully, that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.”

She has a gift for consoling

After Mrs March leaves for Washington, Beth appears at the window every morning to smile good-bye to her sisters in her mother’s place to comfort them. Her sisters also come to treat her as a confidant.

“Everyone felt how sweet and helpful Beth was, and fell into a way of going to her for comfort or advice in their small affairs.”

Her character in of itself gently corrects and guides others

Dark days strike when Beth falls ill – everyone has taken for granted that she has taken on their chores as well as caring for the needy in their neighbourhood on their mother’s behalf. In one of the few times we see Jo cry, she confides to Laurie in her despair.

“Beth is my conscience; I can’t give her up; I can’t! I can’t!”

She inspires creativity and generosity

How I adore this scene! Christmas comes around after Beth’s recovery and news arrives that Mr March will soon be home. Jo and Laurie make a snow-maiden in the garden for Beth (along with a fitting pile of warmer gifts), singing a Christmas carol written by Jo that ends with,

“Their dearest love my makers laid

Within my breast of snow,

Accept it, and the Alpine maid,

From Laurie and from Jo.”

I re-read Little Women Part 1 as part of the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge hosted by In the Bookcase. 

P.S. For the final week of the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge, I’m holding a Comment Challenge to giveaway of a copy of The Courtship of Jo March: a variation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. To enter, post a question regarding the novel OR a comment answering this question: “Why do you think Jo and Laurie should have been together?” in the comments section of the blog post If only Little Women…Courtship of Jo March Comment Challenge and giveaway.

If only Little Women…A Comment Challenge and giveaway

By Trix Wilkins

Been thoroughly enjoying being part of In the Bookcase’s Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge this year – and so, in honor of the final week, I’m running a Comment Challenge to give away a copy of The Courtship of Jo March. 

[image error] Photograph by Greg Bridges 

A bit about the book

I’m one of those readers in the awkward position of being utterly in love with Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women yet wishing things had worked out differently for Jo, Laurie and Beth. Whilst on holiday I started doodling, “What if Laurie had proposed like this…” and The Courtship of Jo March was born.

Here’s an excerpt from the novel, a letter from Laurie to Jo:

My dearest friend,

I could not believe my eyes upon reading your letter – how could it be possible, that I would receive such words from you! There was nothing to do but to write to you immediately, for such sentiments demand a response, and you cannot know how honored I am that you would entrust such things of your heart to me.

I wish I could be there right now, at this very instant, peering over your shoulder in the garret with a basket of apples, cheering you on, riding up and down the streets with your latest piece for publication to the world, as we once did (though perhaps, not keeping the secret as well as I did then!), and shouting, “Hail Jo March, our great and celebrated American authoress!”

For that is what you are Jo, that is who you are – you are an author. You cannot cease to write any more than you can cease to breathe. I know you. This difficult season will pass – your eyes and mind will inevitably be opened once more to the wealth of ideas all around you, as they always have been. For you see things that most do not, and you care to know of things that most do not.

On reading your letter, I couldn’t help but tell you immediately, and attempt to render to you the service you once so kindly and generously did me – Jo, keep writing stories, keep writing books. Keep learning, keep reading! For you are absolutely brilliant at it, Jo, and as of yet there is nothing I have read that compares to what you write.

My dear friend, keep writing – for I fear you will lose your heart, to lose your writing. And even if the ideas around you fall short of what you seek – even if, as you say, you have not the heart to write… perhaps it is your heart you ought to write of.

Yours sincerely,

Teddy

P.S. Please find enclosed a small gift I had the audacity to purchase for you in London. I came across this title, fresh off the press as they say, and immediately thought of you. May your adventures end, only to give way to new ones.

If you’re keen for a longer excerpt, sample chapters are available to download for free here

If only Little Women…Courtship of Jo March Comment Challenge and giveaway

By Trix Wilkins

Been thoroughly enjoying being part of In the Bookcase’s Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge this year – and so, in honor of the final week, I’m running a Comment Challenge to give away a copy of The Courtship of Jo March. 

[image error] Photograph by Greg Bridges 

A bit about the book

I’m one of those readers in the awkward position of being utterly in love with Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women yet wishing things had worked out differently for Jo, Laurie and Beth. Whilst on holiday I started doodling, “What if Laurie had proposed like this…” and The Courtship of Jo March was born.

It’s essentially for everyone who has ever wished Beth had lived, Laurie had chased Jo a la Darcy, and for the sort of happy ending that almost defies belief (for all who are anxious about the fate of Plumfield in this variation, I’ll add this reassurance: there is a school, just not in the form of the original ;)).

Sample chapters are available to download for free here

A confrontation with Little Women and Me

By Trix Wilkins

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Any attempt to “rewrite” a novel – especially one as well beloved as Little Women – is bound to be polarizing. We either love it or we hate it.

Those of us who think the original perfect as it is somewhat resent the mere attempt at alteration.

How presumptuous, we think, for someone to try to “edit” our beloved classic!

For those of us who have a gripe about the original, how we look forward to reading a variation we hope shares our sympathies and brings into the realm of reality the things we wish had happened – and with all the anticipation arising from the glimmer of unfulfilled possibilities, we eagerly read.

We are then either incredibly satisfied, or even more disgruntled with the variation that failed us, that disappointed our hopes, than we were with the original.

Now I knew going into reading Little Women and Me that Lauren Baratz-Logsted completely sympathized with me on two things I have always wished had ended differently – Beth dying, and Jo and Laurie married to different people. Thus I went into reading this novel with great expectations.

In this modern take on Little Women, fourteen year old Emily is mysteriously transported into the world of nineteenth century Concord, where she proceeds to live out the entire novel as the middle March sister. With Meg and Jo on one side and Beth and Amy on the other, Emily tries to work out how to fit into the novel until she can figure out how to escape it.

Along the way she seeks to secure Laurie’s affections, finds the shine dulling off her heroine Jo, and discovers something rather shocking about the fourth March sister, Amy. The core message of Little Women and Me is about self-discovery – Emily comes to realize the gap between who she is and who she wants to be, and how she might begin to bridge it.

Things I realized I want in a book while reading Little Women and Me

From the first few pages, I came to recognize very clearly the things that make me like a book, the things that make me think, Goodness I want to read that again and I want to tell other people so they can read it!

I like and admire the main character – A courageous, compassionate, and intelligent protagonist with firm convictions (yet humble enough to admit when wrong).

A very close bond between the protagonist and at least one other person – An exceptionally close relationship (not necessarily romantic, could be between sisters, friends, mother-daughter, father-son…) in which we see the protagonist truly vulnerable. There is no joy like that shared with a beloved, and no suffering like that without them. It’s hard to love a character when we don’t see them loving anybody else.

A complex antagonist – Someone clearly recognizable as the antagonist yet in a way that we both dislike and understand them, so that we can see part of ourselves in them.

The protagonist helps someone else at great personal cost and sacrifice – They encounter problems, persevere, and accomplish what they set out to do. The antagonist gets trumped – the protagonist can waver in that quest (because nobody is a hundred per cent consistent and they ought to be somewhat realistic even if idealized), but in the end, they trump the antagonist.

There is some sort of moral struggle – There’s got to be a fight against something that’s worth fighting: exploitation, injustice, something that needs upsetting in the status quo.

There are challenging and intelligent conversations between characters – They discuss and debate each other’s ideas. Their dialogue is thought-provoking and bears mulling over.

Rethinking first impressions

My first impression upon starting to read Little Women and Me was, “I don’t think I’m the target audience for this book…”

When I was fourteen I was reading The Babysitter’s Club (a group of enterprising thirteen year olds who start a babysitting agency to earn pocket money while helping neighbors), Nancy Drew (a brilliant teenaged girl detective who solves crimes), and had just been introduced to and fallen in love with Little Women and Pride and Prejudice (both so self-evidently brilliant they require no explanation).

Thus it was something of a shock to read of a fourteen year old who, when confronted with the opportunity to live in Little Women to meet and interact with the March sisters, disdained them. Then when Emily started to chase Laurie despite the fact she suspected her “sister” Jo liked him (and that he liked Jo), that really hit a button…

Emily is a difficult protagonist to love, but I think that was Lauren’s point. I suspect we’re supposed to feel appalled as we see Emily run through Little Women making snide comments and oversimplifying the complexity of the characters and circumstances that had been in the original. I don’t think the purpose of the book was for me to like Emily, as much as that is what I look for in a protagonist.

I think Lauren wrote Emily into being to make us recognize in ourselves the way we quickly judge or dismiss others who are different or think differently to ourselves (whether in books or not), the way we feel entitled to what is good and best and more so than someone else (and thus step on them to get to it) – and to stir in us a desire not to be that sort of person. We have a very stark example in Emily as to what that looks like and what an unattractive picture that is.

I have to admire the fact that it is quite gutsy on Lauren’s part to write such a heroine as Emily into the world of Little Women. And I suspect that all fourteen year olds (and the rest of us) would benefit from its main idea: consider the interests of others, not just ourselves.

P.S. There’s a pretty interesting ending…

There is something of a homage to Jasper Fforde in the ending of Little Women and Me. For all who never liked Amy March, it would be something immensely satisfying (the more you despise her, the more satisfying it is). For all who are Team Amy, you would probably want to hurl this book at the wall (just a heads up). If you absolutely adored the original Little Women and would change nothing about it, I would recommend giving this a miss and opting to read about the real-life Jo and Marmee in Eve LaPlante’s Marmee and Louisa.

I read Little Women and Me as part of the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge. To join the challenge, hop on over to In the Bookcase!

Finding gems in The woman behind Little Women

By Trix Wilkins

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What a compelling read. I had originally planned to muse over this book throughout the month of the Louisa May Alcott reading challenge. What actually happened was: book in hand at 11am, read it through lunch, read after dinner, then after going to bed could not sleep so got up at 11pm and kept reading until I finished it at an unmentionable hour (suffice to say I went immediately for coffee after school drop-offs).

The woman behind Little Women is a brilliantly written and deeply researched biography that neatly straddles the line between empathy with the various people who appear and rigorous consideration of the historical, social and economic contexts they navigated. She strikes the balance between bald truth and the art of gently revealing it, treating people with respect without trying to hide anything of who they were.

It’s a hard thing to be both sympathetic towards the people one is writing about and at the same time sensitively call a spade a spade – Harriet does this well.

What she also does really well in this book is tease. I enjoyed reading about the significant others to Louisa so much that when a section ended and I was to read no more about them, I found myself thinking, “Wait, what?! What happened next?” (So this biography prompts the desire to read additional biographies. For example I now want to know more about: Elizabeth Peabody, Margaret Fuller and John Pratt.)

She also brought the men in Louisa’s life to the fore, weaving in moments such as Louisa’s suggesting to Alf Whitman that they run off as sailors across the Atlantic to have adventures in Europe (I will attempt the tease myself and leave it at that).

5 new gems I discovered about Louisa

Of course there are more than 5 gems in this book – I filled several pages noting things I didn’t know about her and was thrilled to find out! – but a blog post has to stop somewhere, hence I’ve chosen 5 that particularly touched my heart and mind…

She became an abolitionist at the age of 3

When bounties were placed for the capture and delivery of abolitionists to be tarred and feathered, British abolitionist George Thompson and editor William Lloyd Garrison were targeted. Louisa hid under the bed whilst the abolitionists gathered at the Alcotts’ and from then on was in the thick of the cause. Her sympathy for the equal worth of slaves was further developed when she fell into the Boston Public Garden Frog Pond and nearly drowned before being rescued by an eight year old black boy.

She lost her first love to “a fever”

As a teenager, Louisa had a romance with a boy named Augustus who went to boarding school and with whom she exchanged letters. He promised to return for her, inviting her to go “boating and berrying and all the rest of it again.” He never did – for in a matter of weeks, he died from “a fever.”

Her mother Abigail (Marmee) set up the household post-office

During her father’s frequent absences her mother set up a post office in their home like the one that appears in Little Women, which the sisters took turns looking after as post-master. They would write letters and make parcels for each other, and it became a beloved family institution.

Her sister Anna (Meg) was the one to have started a school

In Little Women, Jo has the idea of starting Plumfield when the estate is bequeathed to her upon the death of Aunt March; in history, it was Louisa’s elder sister Anna who opened a school when she became the sole family breadwinner at the age of 19, and later would teach at a psychiatric hospital.

Louisa herself actually disliked teaching, “spending those days giving lessons to small children was not the future she had planned,” though she was willing to as she valued education. She and Anna gave evening classes in literacy to immigrant and black women, and for a short time Louisa would open a school at Beacon Hill (but once it closed for the summer she made no plans to re-open it). She not only advocated for abolition but also the rights of slaves to literacy.

She held a masked ball for her 21st birthday

I love this little tidbit about Louisa. In Little Women Jo has a fabulous time showing up to a new year’s eve masked ball dressed as Mrs Malaprop from The Rivals; Louisa herself gave a masked ball for her coming of age 21st birthday party in which she dressed “in fancy costume,” according to her mother Abigail. (Whether this was as Mrs Malaprop is uncertain, though she certainly acted this particular role in the Walpole Amateur Dramatic Company’s performance of The Rivals.)

Favorite quotes

“No born brother was ever dearer…He did more to make us trust and respect men than anyone I know, and with him I lose the one young man whom I sincerely honored in my heart.”

 “Words were Louisa’s playthings for the tongue and the page, her non-violent means to power, her passport to riches.”

“Her mother was her salvation; even surrounded by strangers and overburdened with responsibilities, Abby could be counted upon to notice, sympathize, and care.”

I read The woman behind Little Women as part of the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge  hosted by  In the Bookcase.

Jo March’s legacy: musing over The Little Women Letters

By Trix Wilkins

An irresistibly disarming novel, The Little Women Letters is the story of a year in the life of the Atwater sisters Emma, Lulu and Sophie and their mother Fee, direct descendants of Jo March from Little Women. When Lulu finds a box of “Grandma Jo’s” letters in the attic, what began as a rather dispiriting year takes a turn and ends delightfully for all.

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Things I loved about The Little Women Letters

Jo’s letters

Jo March’s letters are enchanting, true to her style of writing, powers of observation and quirky humor. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the letters, but there are of course favorites.

The one that tops the list features Jo going with Laurie to the Tudors’ ball and telling young Tudor (remember that scene in Little Women where Amy reprimands Jo for giving the titled Tudor the cold shoulder whilst smiling at the grocer’s boy Tommy?) that he is a dandy for having more jewels on his hand than her sister (and which Laurie to his credit just laughs at in the carriage on their way home – brilliantly funny stuff, I could imagine this actually having happened between the lines in Little Women!).

Jo’s letter to Beth on the occasion of the Marches’ first Thanksgiving without her is another favorite, as is a letter relating an episode in which young Demi Brooke asks Aunt March about her belly (really – Little Demi Brooke before he was “the Deacon” in the Little Women sequels asks Aunt March point blank about her belly. I enjoyed so much in this novel but even if I didn’t, it would be worth reading for that alone!).

I loved the fact that so many of the letters were written by Jo to Beth, even after Beth’s passing – this is something I can imagine Jo having done, missing her sister so much and not being able to help sharing significant moments of life with her.

The presence of Beth March

I had been prepared to miss Beth thoroughly, knowing before reading that there were only three Atwater sisters.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Beth plays a huge role in this book. Gabrielle takes care to honor her memory and convey the deep affection Jo felt for her sister and the bond between them. We don’t get to see Beth speak, but we do get to see the impact her life had on her sisters.

In the mere fact that Lulu spends much of the narrative a bit lost at sea wondering what she is passionate about and what direction she would have her life take, I felt the presence of Beth – like Gabrielle was saying that Beth was so profoundly significant to the character of Jo that Jo would not have been the strong, compassionate and bold woman she was without her sister.

The fact that Lulu is a good cook

I could not help laughing to myself at every scene where Lulu is cooking something delectable for someone or other. She has a degree in biochemistry but what she really enjoys doing is cooking for people (and she does it exceedingly well, so much so that her roommate gives her free rent in exchange for cooking their meals).

I absolutely loved Gabrielle’s sense of humor in doing this. It’s like a big joke on Jo March – remember that disaster of a dinner party involving lobster and strawberries swimming in sour cream soaked with salt? (She eventually had claims to making good coffee, and we’re given to understand that after her mother’s advice she masters the art of “plain cooking,” but Jo is no gourmet.)

The delightfully romantic twist

I spent just about the whole novel gearing up for Lulu to fall in love with Tom, because Tom is clearly the Professor Bhaer-equivalent (being an eighteenth-century literature professor who is older with firm principles), and Charlie her female roommate the Laurie-equivalent (being the wealthy half-Italian friend who eats her cooking).

And yet, there is a twist. I am not going to say what it is because the twist came upon me out of the blue (and I am rarely surprised when it comes to romantic novels or movies – I am now not allowed to talk to my sister during a movie we’re seeing for the first time so as not to spoil it for her).

It is a brilliant, romantic satisfying ending – it’s almost like Gabrielle went, “Ah ha! Bet you didn’t see that coming!” Yeap. I didn’t see it coming and I loved it.

Things I would’ve really liked to have seen

As these would not have fit neatly into the narrative, I understand why they didn’t appear in the novel – still, they are things I found myself missing as I read, being aspects of Little Women that I loved:

Letters from Laurie during the time he was in Europe and still in love with Jo – we didn’t get to see these in the original Little Women and I had hoped to see at least one sample in this novel.

Letters from Marmee to Jo encouraging her in her writing and especially in her loneliness – such precious notes from her mother that I would have expected her to keep.

Fee as a counter-cultural mother figure – Fee was understanding and intelligent, but I felt Mrs March had a bit more edge and was a more atypical mother of her time than Fee of hers.

The Atwater sisters doing some sort of volunteer or charity work – Similar to what Marmee and the March sisters did for the civil war effort and poorer families in their neighbourhood.

More Jo letters! I couldn’t get enough of the letters, they read like “deleted scenes” from Little Women. Gabrielle could have included ten more and I would still say, “More letters please!”

Favorite quotes

“A family of cripples, in fact – for we are not whole without her, we sisters who remain, and never again shall be.” Jo, of Beth

“Never, ever to take for granted someone I love and value.” Fee, to Lulu

“I’m just as content to sit with my book and improve my mind, which always needs it; rather than the house, which doesn’t.” John, to Meg

Some final thoughts on The Little Women Letters

William Henry Margetson’s The sea hath its pearls is my favorite painting. Partly because I do think it beautiful; mostly because it is sentimental to my husband and I (but that’s another story).

One day whilst on a mummy-daughter date I came across a huge framed print for twenty dollars – and along with it, a second print that looked so similar in style that at first I thought it was a lesser known pair to The sea hath its pearls.

It was actually a tribute painting by Joy Scherger, who must have loved and studied The sea hath its pearls so closely that she appropriated it seamlessly into a work of art of sufficient beauty and distinction to stand on its own (my sister actually prefers Joy’s appropriation to the original).

The Little Women Letters is like that tribute painting. The original Little Women will always be my favorite, will always have the sort of value that can only be attached to an object by virtue of its connection to a loved one. Still, as with Joy’s tribute, I delight in this novel not only for its own charm, but for its being carefully crafted out of deference to the original.

I read The Little Women Letters as part of the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge. To join the challenge, hop on over to In the Bookcase!

The worlds of Little Women: LMA challenge reading list

By Trix Wilkins

As those who’ve read The Courtship of Jo March have probably worked out, I have a penchant for alternate histories, parallel universes, alternate realities – things I enjoy with my history-teacher husband, whose sense of humor is very much embedded in the “what if.” Thus the books on this list explore some of the worlds of Little Women from its publication through the century and a half since – books I hope to read for the Louisa May Alcott reading challenge.

The real world: Little Women (Part 1) by Louisa May Alcott

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I have lost count of the number of times I have read this favorite novel of mine, but this time I’m reading to pay particular attention to Marmee and Beth. Marmee because she represents Louisa’s own affectionate, intelligent and resourceful mother Abigail, and there’s much to learn from her example. And Beth – the more I read Little Women, the more she shines to me as the strongest and possibly the most interesting of the four sisters, with so much unrealized potential.

The meeting of worlds: Little Women and me by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

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Being a great fan of Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series where it is possible to physically travel into the world of fiction, I’m intrigued by the premise of this novel: young Emily from modern times finds herself entering the world of the March sisters! What fun it must have been to imagine interacting in person with Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. I’m looking forward to seeing Lauren’s depiction of the meeting of our two worlds.

The future world: The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly

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This is probably the book I’m most excited to read as it is set in a parallel universe in which Little Women is real history. Jo March is a real historical figure, thus she has a real family tree and real descendants who live in our time – sisters who then discover some long lost letters written by great-great-grandma Jo! I am especially looking forward to reading those letters, as reviews I’ve read of this novel testify to their being very true to Louisa’s voice and Jo March’s character.

The world outside: The woman behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen

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I’m hoping to like this biography of Louisa as much as I do Eve LaPlante’s Marmee and Louisa (Eve, incidentally, really is a descendant of the Alcotts, and actually did find a trunk of letters and journals of the real ‘Jo’ and ‘Marmee’). I have the impression that it contains significant details of the romance between Louisa and Ladislas Wisniewski, and her friendship with Alf Whitman (both of whom were Louisa’s avowed inspirations for the character of Laurie).

The world unseen: Little Women illuminated by The Message by Susan Bailey

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I’m aiming to simply start reading this month, as this book is designed for personal reflection – a compilation of quotes alongside related passages from The Message (a translation of the Bible in modern English that reads like a narrative). I’m looking forward to discovering new gems from Louisa’s writings, and perhaps some unfamiliar yet insightful pieces of scripture.

For all keen to join the Louisa May Alcott reading challenge, hop on over to In the Bookcase!

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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 (ie: a potential world of Little Women!). Available in paperback and an eBook package. Sample chapters free to download here.

Little Women, Marmee, and the weight of a mother’s word

By Trix Wilkins

[image error] Photo background courtesy of Canva

That was the moment it dawned on me. The moment I knew Jo and Laurie would not be together at the end of Little Women. The moment Mrs March advised her daughter that she and her best friend were not suitable for marriage.

Nothing in the world could now possibly persuade Jo to accept the proposal of the man she cared for most – the one person upon whose judgment she had utter confidence had warned that it would not end well for them if she did.

So I was quite excited to read a “what if” as to how things might have worked out had Mrs March changed her mind and found a way to express that change to both Jo and Laurie. Though it was written six years ago, this story has stuck with me. Now that I am a mother and feel that nerve-wracking responsibility to give potentially life-altering advice to my children, it feels a pertinent time to let others know of it!

Mending Our Mistakes is set in a Little Women alternate universe in which Jo did not go to New York – instead, she writes to Laurie upon Beth’s passing, prompting his early return from Europe. The author (who wishes to remain anonymous under the pen name HarmonyLover) has kindly allowed for an excerpt from the story to be published below, and given us insight as to its inspiration.

What’s your favorite scene in Little Women?

This is such a difficult question! I love the chapters The P.C. and P.O. and Castles in the Air, and I really think my favorite moment in the second half of the book is when Laurie comes home and surprises Jo, and they talk everything over like the best friends they are.

Is there anything you wish Louisa May Alcott had written into Little Women? If so, what?

I would have liked to see more character development for Amy. We get a little bit while she is in Europe, but by the end she is mostly Laurie’s wife, and it would have been nice to see how, for example, being a mother changed her. I could see her starting a home for chronically ill children, for example, or sponsoring medical research on childhood illnesses. She has so much ambition and spunk and I think she would go to the ends of the earth to try and help her daughter. Or, how would she incorporate her art into being a wife and mother? I can’t see her giving that up entirely.

Jo & Laurie or Jo & Professor Bhaer at the end of Little Women? Why?

It’s funny. As a young reader (pre-teen/teen), I didn’t mind the ending of Jo & Professor Bhaer. I could see why the Professor was good for Jo, in some ways – he didn’t mind her writing or her unconventionality. He actually found her interesting and charming. He was kind to her and supported her ambitions, he cheerfully helps her run Plumfield and enjoys the boys as much as she does, and all of those things are positive. He’s an educated man, and a good one, but he doesn’t have all of the social expectations about women that most nineteenth-century men did. I could (and can) see why all of those things would appeal to Jo, since she feels so constrained by conventionality (and conventional expectations for women, in particular).

However, the older I have gotten, and the more re-reads I have done, the more I have wished that Jo and Laurie ended up together.

They are so suited to each other – in different ways than Jo and the Professor are. They both upset gender norms in many ways, particularly nineteenth-century gender norms. Jo has many ambitions and mannerisms and even talents that would have been ascribed to men, while Laurie’s emotionality and tenderness, his love of music and his talent for it, would have been seen as very female traits. And yet Jo and Laurie see these “opposite” gender traits in each other and admire them, and even encourage them in one another. They are best friends; they understand each other and give each other emotional support that is crucial for both of them.

So while I didn’t mind the original ending as a young reader, as a mature adult I have very much grown to prefer the idea of Jo & Laurie, and to wonder what their story would have been like, if Alcott had chosen to write it.

How did you begin writing this story? What inspired it?

I had been watching the 1994 film with Winona Ryder again, and started to think about that heartbreaking scene toward the end when Jo is making bread and Laurie shows up at the door. It’s such a joyful and yet poignant moment. I had also recently read (or re-read) March by Geraldine Brooks, and had been thinking about that version of Marmee.

I really started ruminating on the idea of what would happen if Marmee and Laurie could actually have a conversation in that moment when Laurie comes home, if Marmee reassessed her thoughts about Laurie and Jo, and if Laurie had a chance to talk through some of the ways he has changed since leaving for Europe. That entire conversation that I wrote between the two of them was so emotionally satisfying to me.

Without further ado, here’s part of that “what might have been” conversation between Laurie and Marmee from Mending Our Mistakes…

“So Amy is in love with Fred, and you are still in love with our Jo,” Marmee summarized affectionately. “She wrote to you?”

Laurie flushed and then paled, but his dark eyes were full of emotion as he pulled Jo’s short missive from his vest pocket. The action earned him a truly amused glance from Marmee, and he lifted an eyebrow in question.

“If it wasn’t enough that you crossed an ocean to come back to Jo, all I would have needed to see was where you kept Amy and Jo’s letters,” she said in explanation, her lips twitching. “Amy’s in your overcoat, but Jo’s in your vest.”

Laurie gave a quiet, surprised laugh, but Marmee’s face was already becoming solemn again as she scanned the little letter, and at the end of it she gave a long sigh. “I am amazed she actually sent this to you,” she said, looking up at him again. “It is so unlike her, so fragile.”

“I know,” Laurie whispered, his face reflecting all the worry that had been in his heart since he left France. “It frightened me. Has she been so self-contained, then, since Beth died?”

“Yes and no,” Marmee said wearily, pressing her fingers between her eyes in an unconscious gesture of pain. “She is driven; she works at some sort of task almost constantly. She has been unfailingly attentive to her father and to me; she spends time with the families that we try to help, she is constantly helping Hannah in the kitchen or the garden, or helping Meg take care of Daisy and Demi. She has tried to drive away her pain with work, but she does not write, and she refuses to talk about Beth except when someone else mentions her. It has been so clear to us that she was suffering, but she would not talk to us. She never really grieved.”

Marmee sighed, pausing to drink before she continued. “Today was the first time she has cried, and somehow I am not surprised that it took you to draw that from her. The only moments of vulnerability I have seen are a handful of occasions where she would stand by your old post office or would go down to where you would talk by the stream. I-I watched her because I was worried,” Marmee admitted, a trifle shamefacedly. “I wanted to be there if she needed someone, but I didn’t dare approach her. Mr. March and I have both been afraid of what it would do to her if someone tried to  breach her defences before she could cope with her grief.”

Laurie nodded, his throat too constricted to say anything. Jo had been light as a feather in his arms; he had been astonished when he picked her up, remembering the more substantial form of the girl who used to fly across the ice with him in exuberant abandon, or dance with him, unseen, in the hallways of his grandfather’s house.

When she had opened the door to him, he thought his heart might break at the deadness in her eyes. It had seemed impenetrable until he stepped forward to touch her. The flood of emotion that had been released as she realized he was home, that he really was standing in front of her, had been heartbreaking.

“She has missed you, all this long year,” Marmee said gently, compassion filling her features as she took in Laurie’s expression. “Whenever she retreated anywhere, it was always to somewhere that reminded her of you – the post office, the creek, the garret, even your grandfather’s stables. She would work and help Hannah and nurse Beth until she could not bear it anymore, and then disappear for an hour or so. She always came back a little more peaceful, if no less sad.”

Laurie let out a shuddering breath, his face shadowed with consternation. “I should not have stayed away so long.”

Marmee was silent for a moment, then set her teacup down decisively, as if coming to a decision. “I owe you an apology, Laurie.”

Laurie shook his head in protest, attempting to forestall her. “No, Mother, truly –”

“Please,” Marmee entreated him. “Let me say this, my dear. It will ease my heart and perhaps help you and Jo.” She caught his young hands in her older, work-worn ones, and not for the first time Laurie was humbled by this woman’s care for him, by the strength and tenderness that seemed such a part of her. He knew, from what little Jo had told him, that some of the endless patience and cheerfulness she now displayed had been hard-won and difficult to master, but it only made him respect her all the more. She had loved him like a son despite all his faults, and he found that he could not deny her request. He gave a little nod, waiting for her to continue.

“When Jo refused you a year ago, I thought she had made the right decision, despite the pain it caused you both,” Marmee began. “You were both such headstrong creatures, and you argued so often, that I did not see how you would ever get on. Jo was – and is – fiercely independent, and you seemed determined to make your life a social whirlwind, even before you went to Europe. Neither of you seemed inclined to bind yourselves to anyone, even to each other.”

Laurie opened his mouth, but Marmee put a finger to his lips with a wry little smile of motherly understanding. “I never doubted that you loved Jo, Laurie,” she continued. “I was concerned about your mutual ability to compromise with one another and lay the groundwork for a permanent relationship. Compromise was something that the two of you struggled with even in friendship, and I was afraid of what marriage might do to your relationship. I was also worried about Jo, more than I even admitted at the time, I think.”

Laurie thought of several things to say, but in the end he only asked, “Why?”

“She will tell you some of that herself, I am sure, but she was profoundly confused about her feelings for you, and upset by how quickly everything was changing,” Marmee explained. “I had not foreseen how much Meg’s marriage would affect her; she did not want our family stability shaken again when it had just recently been put back together. At the same time, she felt stifled by the demands of home life, as though she had lost the ability to make any decisions for herself or control what was happening around her. For someone who craves independence and control as much as Jo, that is a dangerous mixture of feelings.”

“And I was only making things worse,” Laurie said in realization, his eyes wide. “How could I have been so blind?”

“You are by nature honest and impetuous, Laurie, and you were in love,” Marmee said, again with an understanding smile. “There is no need to be ashamed of any of those things; they are all qualities to be cherished. But this is where my apology comes in.”

“What I did not see, then, was the extent to which the two of you had become each other’s touchstones, underneath the occasional contentiousness of your friendship. I might have done well to remember how much Jo is like me; you would never think it to look at us now, but Edward – Mr. March, that is – and I had quite the spirited relationship when we were young. We disagreed frequently, about everything from leisure occupations to politics, but we loved each other a great deal – and still do. Sometimes opposing qualities in individuals can bring a great deal of strength to love, particularly if they learn to cherish those differences rather than be vexed by them. I could have – should have – helped you, and for that I am sorry,” Marmee finished.

Laurie sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating everything he had just been told. It clarified some things tremendously; never had he understood so clearly why Jo had resisted all attempts to alter their friendship. She had desperately wanted the one thing she relied upon the most in her life to stay the same, at a point when everything was changing all around her and she had no power to stop it. Nor had she been sure of her own feelings for him, and he had forced her into trying to define them. He should have been more patient, and not put her into a position where she felt the only thing to do was push him away.

“You don’t owe me an apology, Mother,” he finally said quietly. “I have had a great deal of time to think this year – more than I wanted, in fact – and you were perfectly correct to worry the way you did. How did I react to Jo’s rejection, except to act in the very way she – and you – expected me to? She refused me because she could not contemplate one more momentous change in her life, and so I did my best to eliminate her from my existence, without bothering to notice how distraught she was. How could she do otherwise but say no, when she could scarcely sort through her own emotions? She did try to tell me,” Laurie admitted regretfully. “I just couldn’t see it then.”

“Still, I feel that I might have saved you both some heartache, had I been just a little more reflective,” Marmee said. “Even mothers aren’t perfect, no matter how much we might wish to be.”

“Your children don’t need perfection, just love, and the best counsel you can give,” Laurie said warmly. “The rest will sort itself out.”

For all who are keen to read the whole saga, here’s the link to Mending Our Mistakes by HarmonyLover. 

For love of Louisa May Alcott

By Trix Wilkins

Some things happen at just the right time. Just after starting yet another read of Little Women (I have lost count), I was kindly invited to take part in the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge. For the last five years, Tarissa at In the Bookcase has hosted this event for all who want to read, laugh and cry over Louisa May Alcott’s books together. Thank you Tarissa for this timely invitation, and for the recent enlightening interview!

Why host a Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge?

I was inspired to start it because I had been wanting to read Little Women (again), followed by ALL of the sequels (for my first-time read) all together in one summer. And I thought that maybe some other bloggers and readers would like to come along for the ride with me. The challenge allows each reader to select their own LMA titles, so everyone can either choose something new to them, or something they’d like to re-read.

What started your interest in Louisa May Alcott?

For as long as I can remember, there’s been a blue hardback copy of Little Women sitting on my bookshelf. However it was acquired I can’t say exactly, but there it was.

I think I’ve always had a desire to read classic literature, even at a young age, because my family always had those books around the house. So it was a natural fit that one day at the age of 14, I cracked open this delightful book, filled with beautiful illustrations, and my heart became merry as I met these 4 little women, who, each in different ways, I found some kindred spirits.

If you could have a dinner party with LMA, what would you ask her?

I think I would ask Miss Alcott why she took to writing as her outlet. She could have just chosen teaching, or tried a different route more seriously such as acting, which she always enjoyed — but she chose writing books in an attempt to get published as her way of expressing herself. Why? And who inspired her the most to try her hand at writing? (I could make some guesses at this answer, but I’d like to hear it from her.)

Who is your favorite character from LMA’s novels?

There’s barely any guessing involved here. From the first pages I read, I’ve always been a fan of a certain budding authoress, Miss Jo March.

Romantic pairings in LMA’s novels – are there any you wish she had done differently, and if so, who and why?

Yes. And no. No surprise here either, the “romantic pairing” that irks me is Jo and Laurie. Aren’t they just completely made for each other? Yes, of course. And yet, Jo had to go off and marry a stuffy professor? (Well, maybe after I got to know Professor Bhaer in the later novels, he’s not so stuffy.) But still, it was surprising at first that Jo evades the charming man on her doorstep, the one who seems perfect for her (doesn’t every reader think this?).

But… after reading the sequels, and seeing the kind of life that Mrs. Jo Bhaer gets to lead later on, I found out that maybe it’s more perfect that she married the professor and is able to teach so many young ones and fulfill her dreams in that very special way.

Do you have a favorite LMA book/quote/scene? (Or all of the above?)

Okay, let’s start with my favorite book… It’s a toss-up between Little Women and Eight Cousins, because I love each of those novels so dearly.

As for a favorite scene? There’s a definite memorable scene for me, found in Little Women. When naughty Amy wretchedly burns Jo’s manuscript that she’s worked so hard on, it just about rips my own heart out, right alongside Jo’s. Imagine your life’s work going up in flames, and that’s what it’s like for dear Jo. Each time I’ve read it, that part of the story – while really not my “favorite” per se – is definitely one of the most memorable scenes for me.

And then a favorite LMA quote. Well, there are many that I adore. Miss Alcott has such a sweet way with words, and truly she had a lot of wisdom to share, whether she knew it or not. Well, how can I truly choose just one quote? I can’t, but I’ll share this one that shines with so much inspiration for me:

“I’d have a stable full of Arabian steeds, rooms piled with books, and I’d write out of a magic inkstand, so that my works should be as famous as Laurie’s music. I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle—something heroic, or wonderful—that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead. I don’t know what, but I’m on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all, some day. I think I shall write books, and get rich and famous; that would suit me, so that is my favorite dream.”

Thanks again Tarissa! For all who would like to join the challenge and read along with your favorite LMA books (or variations, modern adaptations, spin offs, biographies of this amazing author), hop on over to In the Bookcase this June.  

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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.

Loss of a beloved: Little Women and the valley of the shadow

By Trix Wilkins

It’s a thing from which one never fully recovers. The feeling is hard to describe. Like a hollowness in the soul, like something that had been a part of oneself is somehow gone and can never be recovered. Healing and joy, yes. That one-step-one-day-at-a-time sort of endurance, yes. Being what one was before the loss, no. There is no lost opportunity like losing time with a beloved – especially when one was expecting a lifetime of memories together, like Jo had anticipated, had prayed, had hoped, for herself and her sister Beth.

[image error] ‘Sunlight in mountain valley’ courtesy of ABSFreePic

Jo & Beth in the valley of the shadow

I used to pass over this chapter in Little Women after the first reading. Jo having to watch her dearest sister slip through her fingers, knowing the inevitability of losing her, the grief that would be sure to mark her every hour henceforth. And as beautifully written as these passages were – for how Louisa May Alcott loved her own sister Elizabeth! – I would feel a share of that dread upon reading them, the possibility of my losing someone so beloved.

Now, this passage is a comfort. How many of these words now resonate in my soul. My grandfather passed away this week, and while the pain of losing a grandparent is not the same as losing a sister, how I feel these words. How thankful I am for this beautiful, personal, moving chapter that must have given voice to all that Louisa herself felt upon losing Elizabeth, and gives voice to all who have ever known such loss.

For, with eyes made clear by many years, and a heart softened by the tenderest sorrow, she recognized the beauty of her sister’s life – uneventful, unambitious, yet full of the genuine virtues which “smell sweet, and blossom in the dust;” the self-forgetfulness that makes the humblest on earth remembered soonest in heaven, the true success which is possible to all. Louisa May Alcott, The Valley of the Shadow, Little Women.

A personal tribute

I meant to finish writing this before my grandfather passed away.

I started thinking about the valley of the shadow when he first fell ill. Then he seemed to recover from each dip – he was so tenacious, and I assumed there was more time to tell him I loved and admired him; to tell him exactly those moments between us that have been a part of me ever since.

This was meant to be a tribute, and he was meant to read it. I am now left with the poor substitute of writing this for my own comfort. Perhaps one day it will comfort others who loved him; and still others who have walked through their own valley of the shadow.

One of the reasons I love reading Little Women is that Mr March and Mr Laurence remind me very much of my grandfather. The most important thing he wanted for his children was education – all the more remarkable, I think, for his being the father of seven daughters (an example for all the Mrs Bennetts of the world…).

At the front of his house he had custom-made plaques displayed. Each child has their own, updated with every new accomplishment – bachelors, masters, doctorates, etc. I love looking at these plaques, especially my mother’s – for she graduated from metallurgical engineering, the only one of his daughters to have done so.

I don’t doubt that every child who came home to see their name above the porch – a sure sign of his pride in their triumphs – was spurred to keep learning, keep persevering (and maybe seek to have just one more engraved line than their siblings).

My grandfather and I lived in different countries most of my life. Yet somehow he loomed a large figure to me. My mother spoke often of him – of his tenacity, his humor, and his compassion.

He was a businessman and he aimed to provide for his family and employ people to help enable them to provide for their own families. His dream for a bigger business was so that he could hire more people, not less – he sought the power to give others livelihoods. I never saw him ‘in action’ but he had to have been good at making money – no small feat to put nine children (he had two sons in addition to the seven daughters) through tertiary education. Yet money was not the end goal for him.

The day I told my grandfather I had withdrawn from a law degree is seared in my memory. I had quit law to study journalism and mortified my parents.

The look I had anticipated was forthcoming: he looked disgusted, like I had told him I’d cut off my hand and traded it for a handbag. Then he looked relieved, and smiled approvingly.

“Ah, good! You will not be a lawyer. That is good. So you will be a newspaperwoman? Good. It is not easy. Very dangerous.” He then patted my hand and chuckled a little to himself.

I remember thinking with no small amount of happiness, “He must think I’ll either be good enough to make a difference or smart enough not to get killed trying.” That was no small compliment for a seventeen year old. (Whether I actually was or not was not the point. I loved the fact that he thought I was.)

The last time I saw my grandfather, my fiancé (now husband) came with me to meet him. We played Scrabble. My grandfather, my mother, and I all share a penchant for Scrabble (my husband does not, but he amiably played along).

In Casablanca Rick tells Ilsa, “We’ll always have Paris.” For the three generations of our family, “We’ll always have Scrabble.” When there are no more memories to be had, we could play in his memory.

One of his favorite words to play was JO. (Nothing to do with Little Women and everything to do with the value of the letter J, but I’ve always thought that was a special connection between us.) Another of his favorite words was EX, which he took invariable pleasure in extending with an S later in the game, laughing at the reactions of his unmarried grandchildren (and the suitors they brought to meet him).

He was a joy to listen to, to talk to, to laugh with – and to remember. Yet how it aches to love him still, and know that I would not be who I am without him.

“Have I really been all that to you, Jo?” she asked, with wistful, humble earnestness.

“Oh, Beth, so much, so much!” and Jo’s head went down upon the pillow, beside her sister’s.

“Then I don’t feel as if I’d wasted my life…It’s such a comfort to know that someone loves me so much, and feels as if I’d helped them.”