The Other March Sisters
“The Other March Sisters is a convincing and bold imagining of who the March sisters might have been.”
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women has been a favorite for over 150 years. It is a book so popular that it has been made into major motion pictures many times. It is clear, while reading or watching the movie, that it is very much the tale of Jo March. In The Other March Sisters, authors Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko, and Liz Parker move Jo’s sisters Meg, Beth, and Amy from Jo’s shadow and give them each their own story. While retaining the main points of the original story, the authors are able to give each character depth and agency.
The book begins with Amy in Europe. Although in the original Amy is shown as silly and spoiled, in The Other March Sisters the reader gets a glimpse of what Amy could have been if given room to grow. Beautiful and talented, it seems her purpose in life is to marry well and help her parents’ financial situation. Exploring the culture and art of Paris, and meeting successful, independent women, Amy begins to wonder if she will be able to put her desires and ambitions aside in order to please her parents. When the moment comes for Amy to make the match her parents desire, she comes to realize that in order to do that she would have to cleave herself in half, leaving her art behind.
Meg, at home in Concord, is also dealing with the notion that she has betrayed her own dreams by marrying John Brooke so young. At home, alone all day with her twins, she feels like her life is empty and meaningless. Her husband is often distant and out with friends, and Meg’s isolation only reinforces her feelings of sadness. A chance gift from her friend, Sallie Moffat, places a gardening book in Meg’s hands and, as she reads it, she realizes that many of the medicinal herbs described in the book are already growing at her home, The Dovecote. Working in the garden gives Meg a sense of independence as it allows her to have her own income and gives her life purpose as her herbs are given to the women of Concord to help with various ailments. Like Amy, Meg realizes that much of her life was sacrificed in order to please her parents. But Meg is stuck in a marriage she never really wanted.
The story finally encircles the girls and brings them back to the heart of the family, Orchard House. Beth, still at home, is dealing with her sickness and her parents’ constant worry. Her life is one of restrictions, and on the pages of The Other March Sisters it feels suffocating. While placid and cheerful on the outside, Beth is justifiably angry inside as she deals with a life that is devoid of freedom and friendship. A chance meeting with the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. March’s friends teaches Beth that her life is important and that, if she can find her voice, she can gain the independence, and love.c
The Other March Sisters is a convincing and bold imagining of who the March sisters might have been. Rather than just a literary means of developing Jo March, the authors make them fully formed characters with their own ambitions and desires. No longer the supporting cast, the sisters examine their own ambitions and lives and make decisions that are sometimes surprising.
At a time when women had little choice and agency over their lives, The Other March Sisters emphasizes the value and support of other women. Authors Epstein, Malinenko, and Parker have achieved a retelling which at once stays true to the heart of Louisa May Alcott’s tale, but also veers in ways that will resonate with modern readers.