The Little Women

Fans of the Louisa May Alcott novel will enjoy the parallels in this meta-novel by Katharine Weber. Meg, Jo, and Amy Green grew up in New York with the unfortunately deceased pet turtle, Beth. When they discover their mother's affair, the girls are scandalized and decide to move in together in Meg's apartment at Yale. The girls sometimes struggle to adjust to life together in their new family. Their story is recorded by Joanna, who, like Jo March is a writer. Meg and Amy sometimes disagree with Joanna's version of events and their objections are noted in readers' notes sprinkled throughout the novel. The references to the original novel are fun and reverent while updating the story to modern times. Though I am sure there are some who will hate it, I personally loved the commentary that occurs through the readers' and author's notes about the veracity of Joanna's version of events.