Jo & Laurie

It\’s been years since I\’ve read the original Little Women. I saw the first movie way back in 1994 and haven\’t seen the new one, so I\’m approaching Jo & Laurie with fresh eyes. The first thing that struck me was the cover–I\’m one of those naughty cover judgers–and that alone made me want to buy the book. But the idea of a romantic retelling based on the characters in the beloved classic made it even more compelling. Authors Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz imagine a setting in which Jo March has published her first novel. Shocked to discover that it\’s become a bestseller, she\’s pushed by her publisher to produce a sequel. To escape the pressure, she goes to New York with her friend Laurie, who\’s got romance on the mind. But Jo is determined to remain independent and turns down his marriage proposal. When he returns from college with a new girlfriend on his arm, will Jo have the strength to listen to her heart or lose him forever? As I mentioned, it\’s been years since I had anything to do with the original, and don\’t remember liking it in particular, so I\’m going to make no attempt to analyze whether this book does Louisa May Alcott justice. Apparently there are plenty of reviews ripping this apart, but as a book by itself, I enjoyed it. The writing is strong, the romantic element was innocent and everything about this story was a nice departure from the more \”mature\” offerings lately.

I am a huge Louisa May Alcott fan. I\’ve read all her books, short stories, and journals. I have CDVs/cabinet cards of my favorite author and even have her signature framed. I\’ve read almost every book about her life too. And like everyone else Little Women is a book I loved growing up and I loved Jo and Laurie. In my youth I wanted Jo to marry Laurie. Now that I am older I realize Jo probably should have stayed single, but alas neither happened. When I heard about this book I quickly ordered it. I wanted to read a love story with Jo and Laurie, the one we never got.. Jo is finally successful and has sold her story Little Women to a publisher and now they want a sequel. So, most of this book deals with Jo struggling to write Good Wives. Along the way, we have some adventures in New York City. The sisters, Meg and Amy(Beth is dead) are prominent(one could even make an argument more than Laurie). Throughout the story, Laurie tries to show his love to a girl that simply refuses to allow herself to fall in love. Jo doesn\’t want to be vulnerable and she\’s got money on her mind. Its dreadfully hard to capture a classic book. Many have tired. Many have failed. I went in knowing this book wasn\’t going to be like Little Women, and I was fine for an adventure. I did enjoy the characters in this book. Personally, I thought they were pretty true to the originals. I enjoyed Amy. Still somewhat annoying, but still dreaming of fancy things and longing for better days. I did not like the fact that Jo had written Little Women and was trying to write the sequel. I thought it would have been better that Jo was working on a book, any book, other than Little Women. It seemed forced to me and at times just weird. For instance, in her novel Jo had Meg and John marry. In this book, they are not married and start courting. Laurie seemed more interested and supportive of Jo\’s writing, and he tries to woo her every way possible. There were elements that I disliked, which I don\’t want to spoil for other readers so I won\’t go into them. The ending was wrapped up in a nice little bow which I found rushed and somewhat campy. Overall, the book was okay. It was nice to revisit the March sisters, but I had hoped for more.

This was a great book! As a life-long Little Women lover, I always wished Alcott would have given the readers what they wanted, so to speak (in regards to Jo and Laurie). I have read Little Women numerous times, and ways hope that just somehow the ending would magically change. Now it has! I know there are some who cry sacrilege at the authors taking liberty to \”rewrite\” Little Women, and to that I would so look at all the numerous retellings of Pride and Prejudice… if you are a fan of Little Women but always have hoped that the ending could have been different, then this is the book for you!

I was hesitant and so excited to read this book! Obviously, the title caught my eye as a fan of Little Women, and I immediately ordered two copies to read along with a friend the minute I saw the cover. Both authors did a great job of blending the original storyline with this one and I was caught up in the magic right away. I tried to pace myself, but just couldn\’t. It was that good. It would be very difficult to share a lot of what happens without mentioning spoilers, but just know that the authors are true fans of the original and this is a love letter to Little Women. From Jo sparring with her editor to Laurie\’s declarations of love, it had everything I\’d hope for and more. It created the closure that so many of us craved once Little Women was over and Jo and Laurie weren\’t together, but it\’s done so in a way that makes perfect sense.

I don\’t think this is a controversial opinion, given this is a book about said opinion, but I really believe Jo and Laurie belong together. I was skeptical how the authors could believably pull that off, but they did a great job staying true to the original voice and heart of Little Women (and giving me the ending I wanted).

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