She’s striking out on her own in Boston, doing her bit to contribute to the war effort. I adore this iteration of Jo…but I can’t say there’s a version of her I haven’t loved. And the way Beth was incorporated through those verses, showing her thoughts and emotions toward her family as she observed them moving on with their lives was effective and poignant. It allows each story to feel distinct, not only voice wise, but in terms of the environs they’re in and their respective challenges. However, either way, the way they are able to bring them all together in such a seamless way is remarkable.Īs bittersweet and sad as it is, I appreciate the choice to set the story after Beth’s passing, with the sisters scattered on their own individual adventures. I imagine if you’re familiar with all the authors’ work on any level, you might be able to figure it out. And having read a prior Joy McCullough book before, I inferred that Beth’s portions, written in verse to complement the prose of the other three, are hers, although that is just a guess. The authors have been pretty vague about who wrote what, other than Tess Sharpe discussing her own queerness and wanting to reimagine Jo as queer. One of the first things I noted was the seamless way the perspectives flow into each other. The result is a beautiful story in its own right, paying tribute to what worked in the original story, while also providing fans with a little something new. Great or Nothing is an ambitious multi-author collaboration, retelling Little Women during World War II, with each of the four authors (Joy McCullough, Tess Sharpe, Caroline Tung Richmond, and Jessica Spotswood) taking on a different March sister. I received an ARC from the publisher and am voluntarily posting a review. Woven together, these threads tell a story of finding one’s way in a world undergoing catastrophic change. Theodore Laurence is stationed as an army pilot.Įach March sister’s point of view is written by a separate author, three in prose and Beth’s in verse, still holding the family together from beyond the grave.
Under the strain of their grief, Beth’s remaining sisters fracture, each going their own way with Jo nursing her wounds and building planes in Connecticut, Meg holding down the home front with Marmee, and Amy living a secret life as a Red Cross volunteer in London-the same city where one Mr. While the US starts sending troops to the front, the March family of Concord, Massachusetts grieves their own enormous loss: the death of their daughter, Beth.
In the fall of 1942, the United States is still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor. ISBN-13: 978-0593372593 | $18.99 USD | 400 pages | YA Historical FictionĪ reimagining of Little Women set in 1942, when the United States is suddenly embroiled in the second World War, this story, told from each March sister’s point of view, is one of grief, love, and self-discovery.
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