March SistersOn Life, Death, and Little Women
Review posted June 2, 2025.
Library of America, 2019. 182 pages.
Review written November 2, 2021, from a library book.
Starred Review
This book is a collection of four essays by four distinguished authors about Little Women. Each author focused on a different one of the March sisters. Kate Bolick wrote “Meg’s Frock Shock”; Jenny Zhang wrote “Does Genius Burn, Jo?”; Carmen Maria Machado wrote “A Dear and Nothing Else”; and Jane Smiley wrote “I am Your ‘Prudent Amy.’”
I loved this collection. Mind you, I read Little Women enough times in my youth to understand every single reference, no matter how obscure. Every single quote brought recognition. I’ve read a lot about Louisa May Alcott’s family and knew about the originals of each sister as well.
So for someone well-steeped in everything about Little Women, this book was a delight – delving deeply into psychological ramifications of details in the text, complete with references to the essay authors’ lives as well as references to Louisa May Alcott’s life.
Honestly? I’d never given this much thought to the other sisters – I was all about Jo. I was fascinated and captivated to think about the lives presented here with adult eyes, and through the lenses of the essayists.
I must recommend this book to my own sister. (One Christmas the two of us received an entire set of Louisa May Alcott’s books, split between us.) Anyone who has ever read and loved Little Women, take note!