Tuesday Tea and Tomes: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. (Don't wait for the Zombie edition!!)

If there's anything I've learned from movie adaptations of classic literature it is that, good, bad or awful, they do introduce a great book to a new generation (think "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies")  - or, in my case, a fine novel to an "okay boomer".

Although family and friends have recommended it as "their favorite book", it wasn't until Greta Gerwig's recently released "Little Women" movie, that I finally moved "Little Women" the book to the top of my reading wish list. I asked for the Louisa May Alcott tome for Christmas and my daughter, Rachel, granted that wish and placed a newly minted copy in my Christmas stocking.  (Such an appropriate time to receive it, as the book begins on Christmas day for the March sisters.)

It is large book, consisting of 500 pages, but it's a quick read and a page-turner. Written originally for the "young adult" market, this tale of four sisters in New England, circa Civil War era, has broad appeal in it's everyday-ness of sibling relationships and that journey that takes most of us from young "id" to adult "ego".

Many of us are acquainted with the March sister's names -  Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy - and if not so familiar with the storylines (and without giving away any major spoiler alerts to those who, like me, waited a long time to read this!), at least have a vague notion that one sister is pretty, one is a writer, one is frail and one is a bit selfish.  Certainly, that describes any nuclear family - or, for that matter - any one of us at some point in our lives.

A favorite book for some,  but I had to wait for the 2019 movie to get this on my reading list.

There are morals to the stories and inspiring tales of independence, but, at the core, it's a tale of family relationships, unvarnished in spite of polite manners and "good breeding".  Who can't identify with splurging on frivolities, like Amy's limes or Meg's extravagant dress, without thinking of the consequences? Who hasn't seen someone else get the special reward deigned to be yours and retreated, like Jo, for a good cry and some self-pity?

Of course, for this Janeite, there's definitely parallels to be drawn between Austen and Alcott. Both women wrote best about the society's they were a party to, although often on the periphery of the genteel society.  Each made money from their works, a practice not always met with approval, especially for Jane Austen's time. And, both women remained independent and single by choice. Again, somewhat radical for the 1800's.

I am now down the Alcott information-gathering rabbit hole, which started with Wikipedia and launched a few biographies purchased on-line. And, of course, I'll see Greta Gerwig's Little Women movie with, what appears to have, modern-day sensibilities.

Good, bad or awful, the recent theater release got me to where I needed to be. If you haven't read this classic - or need a refresh - I highly recommend spending some time with the March sisters and their "coming of age" tales. Please don't wait until "Little Women and Zombies" comes out before taking action!