The Little Women Letters
by Gabrielle Donnelly
Touchstone, 2011
368 pages
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
About the Book
Vibrant, fresh, and intelligent, The Little Women Letters explores the imagined lives of Jo March’s descendants — three sisters who are both thoroughly modern and thoroughly March. As uplifting and essential as Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Gabrielle Donnelly’s novel will speak to anyone who’s ever fought with a sister, fallen in love with a fabulous pair of shoes, or wondered what on earth life had in store for her.
Some things, of course, remain unchanged: the stories and jokes that form a family’s history, the laughter over tea in the afternoon, the desire to do the right thing in spite of obstacles. And above all, of course, the fierce, undying, and often infuriating bond of sisterhood that links the Atwater women every bit as firmly as it did the March sisters all those years ago. Both a loving tribute to Little Women and a wonderful contemporary family story, The Little Women Letters is a heartwarming, funny, and wise novel for today.
My Thoughts
After reading so many Austen-inspired sequels, this story based on the world of Little Women was a breath of fresh air that allowed me to revisit another beloved author in the context of a contemporary novel.
I greatly enjoyed every part of this book, from the relationships between the sisters to the long-lost letters of her ancestor Jo that Lulu finds in the attic to the respect for love and marriage shown throughout.
Note: This is Book #74 of my 2011 Reads (master list here).
I'm a mom with Asperger's raising an amazing son with autism, which means I'm basically the case manager/advocate/cheerleader/chauffeur. The rest of the time, you can usually find me with my nose in a book!
