always love to read fresh takes on classic stories and that’s what intrigued me to read So Many Beginnings. It’s been years since I’ve read any version of Little Women but jumping into the story my memories came flooding back. I love the reimagined look and feel of this book and how chooses a colony as its focus and the time set in history. The Roanoke Colony seems to be a safe haven for Black people but in the back of their minds the residents are still wary. They know the fight for freedom is far from over, especially with their father being on duty in the Union army.

One of the things I admired about this novel and the original Little Women is how it displays the sisters’ very different personalities while also portraying a tight-knit family that has each other’s back. Jo is the imaginative writer, Amy is a dancer, Beth creates beautiful clothes, and Meg is a teacher with a nurturing caretaker vibe. These qualities make them stand out individually but also bring them together.

What I really enjoyed about this version of Little Women is how it uses small bits and pieces of the original work but makes it into a novel that stands on its own. Morrow’s retelling also focuses on a point the horrors of slavery and the difficulties of colonies during and after the Civil War and the changes it brought. While it is a novel about sisters and their close relationship it paints a vivid portrait of how we try to cover up things from the past. It’s about reckoning with history, overcoming tragedy, and these sisters grappling with the fact that they still have limitations to their freedom. These aspects really added to the historical parts and I can tell a lot of details came from heavy amounts of research. I think this is a novel for people who love Little Women and want to learn more about perspectives from a time of history where those types of stories have been omitted. I can’t wait to read more of these remixed classics!

Wow I loved this book. Real talk, Little Women isn't my favorite. I read it as a young person and enjoyed it but decided to try it as an adult and it is just too white. I appreciate the art of it, the beauty of the story, and I love the movie and musical, but as I try to read more books with people who look like me in them, the OG Little Women just isn't it. But So Many Beginnings is PERFECT. It's haunting. It gives you the nostalgia of LW while being absurdly deep. It's like a history lesson, a romance, and a story of strong sisterhood all wrapped up in one. I have a ridiculous amount of highlights because I enjoyed it so much.

"It seemed there was no age or gender among white folk that made them take care with Black people, or understand when they were causing them pain."

The characters were rich - remixed from the original but still their own people. I want this to be a movie. And I want everyone to read this.

"I don't think home can be found on these shores. Not after what's been done." WHEW.

I would also recommend reading the acknowledgements and grappling with what we don't learn in school about the Civil War and post Civil War era. We are told that Black people just stopped being slaves and then it's a quick Reconstruction into Jim Crow. We don't learn about the freedpeople colonies. The amounts of well to to Black people and freed slaves who moved to (and experienced racism in) the North. Bethany gives us a history lesson wrapped up in a beautiful retelling and I just implore you to read it.

A great story with compelling characters and plot line, however, I felt like it was less of a remix of Little Women and more of a stand alone story. I feel that by billing it as a remix, it did itself a disservice. The story is not quite parallel to Little Women - rather, it is it's own journey into the lives of black sisters during the Civil War. Recommended as a strong historical fiction novel.

This was a really lovely Little Women retelling, which is a subgenre that I would really be interested in exploring endlessly. I love narratives that focus on sisters and the struggles of women, as Little Women does, and Bethany Morrow's "Remix" of course shifts this perspective to the struggles and triumphs of Black women, in the free colony of Roanoke during the Civil War.

What is really striking about this narrative is that Morrow manages to keep the integrity of the original entirely intact while still making changes that make more sense with her characters. This is so small feat! Unlike a fairytale, which has likely been told and retold thousands of times, potentially in many different cultures, Little Women is a 500 page novel with specific plot beats and character dynamics. In a way, that is so much harder to retell because there's a certain amount of the original story that people expect to recognize, yet simply copying it is 1. Boring for the new author and 2. Not really necessary. Morrow essentially has to make the argument that *her* retelling is necessary and she fully does that here.

I am not an own voices reviewer, but I thought she handled character backstories so well, and I found myself connecting with each character. My one minor quibble was that a lottt of the story is told through kind of flashback narration. I'm not sure how she could have gotten around this exactly, but sometimes it did feel like the backstory was a bit dense, especially at the beginning.

HOWEVER, this was really lovely and well done, and I highly recommend for fans of the original and other historical fiction narratives!

This book is so good. I loved the ways it paralled with Little Women while being completely separate, and I loved getting a peek into the Colony at Roanoke, which I hadn't really known about before. It would be a good book to add to my classroom library.

The March family set during the American Civil War with the remix that they are a Black, formerly enslaved family, living in a Freedmen's Colony in North Carolina--building it from the ground-up--and learning what it means to be truly free.

This book holds many of the same dynamics of the original <i>Little Women</i> and names: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. The story was familiar for those who've read the original but remixed enough where it's a refreshing piece that tells of the struggle for formerly enslaved people to build their own communities. It feels like a parallel to the original story as it is set in the same time period.

I loved how different each girl is and how they each grow into their own personality and finding their own passions, which allows them to find a place within their respective communities and family. The ending was wonderfully hopeful as each woman begins her journey past adolescence and into adulthood.

I found myself completely not in the mood for this when the time came to read it. I'm feeling creepy stories or adventures and since I'm well-acquainted with the source material, I'm hoping to give it a go in the future when I can fully enjoy it!

A fascinating look at the four March sisters if their story was reimagined from a different perspective of the Civil War. Kudos to the author for creating such a fascinating new angle on a classic story!

The tone of the book is a bit more serious than the original classic. I learned about some interesting bits of history I didn't know about before, like the Freedmen's Colony on Roanoke Island (such a fascinating setting... I want to know more!). Other changes that I really enjoyed include the new names of the girls, like Amy's name is Amethyst, and Beth's name is Bethlehem (love it!). I also love Amy's story arc (which you'll have to read the book to find out about; it's good!).

Recommended for readers of historical fiction, black interest, and fans of Little Women.

Suitable for: 13 and up - Adults
(For subtle hints at mature topics.)

Dude this was a great retelling. I was curious about how four white girls would be transformed into Black girls while remaining true to the Little Women remaining true to the narrative and I really think Morrow knocked it out of the park.

It was so creative to have the March sisters live in a free colony for newly emancipated people in the 1860's. With this twist on the classic story, it enriched it in a way that somehow kept the original story intact and yet was all its own. I wasn't reading a story I've read countless times before, but I still had the same nostalgia. I'm not sure if I'm describing it well enough, but the bottom line that I want to get across is that it was done well.

So why 4 stars instead of 5? I can't overlook that part of the middle seemed to drag. I guess that's true with the original too though so this was pretty spot on for me haha.

Now for things I loved: Although it isn't explicitly said in the novel, it is implied that Beth has sickle cell anemia which is something that really does impact the Black community. I thought this was such a clever change from scarlet fever. It was little things like this that truly made this become a Black story and not just changing the race of a classic family.

Also, the girls end up with WHO THEY SHOULD END UP WITH. Dude I would read this over and over again for the sheer fact that Morrow didn't pull that crap with a stuck up professor that wasn't good enough for our girl. FINALLY. And because of this change, I got to see Jo's relationship with Laurie in a whole new light. I even said "awww" out loud when he told her that he was always on her side. It was so freaking cute.

Well done. Very well done retelling.

PLEASE! This book was everything. Any chance I have to get my hands on a book about black women I am going to do it. I am a huge fan of the original story as well as the many adaptions that were born from it. This was a retelling, yes, but it was so much more than that. We got to see this story told from a diverse perspective with fully developed characters who each had their own voice and story to tell. There were things about this retelling that were very reminiscent of the Little Women story that we know and love, the relationship between the girls, the relationship with their mom, how they work as a family unit. But, our cast of black characters in a post-slavery environment made for a genuinely unique story about hope, love, ambition, and family. Each sister had their own life goals and ambitions and they were clearly drawn out through the novel. It was very satisfying to see each of the girls’ journeys.

Although the book is only about 300 pages, Morrow was able to pack so much character development and story details into its pages. If the book had been as long as the original work I feel like I would have read it with the same fervor. The pacing was nice and the writing felt very comfortable and easy to get through. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves the story of Little Women.

I have never loved the story of little women as much as I do now! Now this is story telling done right! I cannot wait for today’s generation of Black girl’s experiencing this book!

I featured this book as a Book of the Day spotlight and included it in my weekly roundup and monthly post of new releases on my Black Fiction Addiction platforms.

Probably more of 3.5.

This is my second of the remixed classics and it’s really been such a nice experience reading classics retold through the perspectives of people whose stories have never been considered classics. I have to say I don’t remember much about Little Women because I was too young when I read it and have never watched any adaptations either.

The author does a wonderful job with the setting of this story during and after the civil war, describing in perfect detail how the daily lives of Black people were in the Roanoke Freedmen’s Colony, their struggle to keep their colony running while also living fulfilling lives after having achieved freedom. It was interesting to see all the women of the March family work hard at their chosen professions, being independent thinkers and never letting go of their dreams despite the circumstances. The writing is simple and straightforward, with so much raw power and emotion that made this an impactful read. The pacing could be a bit on the slower side but that could be expected in a slice of life kinda story.

Mammy is the rock who supports them all while their father is away on war related work. Meg is the silent strength who loves teaching the newly freed people and wants a stable home life for herself. Jo is the intellectual whose words and thoughts flow and her convictions might get her in trouble a bit but she is always true to herself. Beth is an excellent seamstress who finds her purpose far away from home. And Amy is the baby whose dreams are more high profile and her exuberant nature is perfect for her profession as a dancer and private tutor. Other than the sisters, it was Lorie who left a deep impression on me. He and Jo are an amazing pair, an unbreakable deep friendship and more which can’t be defined but is as beautiful as any which is societally recognized. Their unwavering support for each other was a particular highlight of this book.

To conclude, I think anyone who loves Little Women and like it to be retold would enjoy this story. And I would definitely recommend it to anyone who would love to see more historical fiction novels featuring characters whose stories were never told, especially set in times of American history when they were never regarded as important enough to be able to deserve their stories to be told.

This was a really well done retelling of Little Women. I liked the historical aspect (set in the Reconstruction era), and changing the March family to former slaves building their new lives. Some relationships were changed up and I enjoyed that as well. I think I just wanted a little more from some of the story lines. Definitely worth a read! Almost 3.5stars

Thanks to MCPG and Macmillan Audio for the gifted advanced copies in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this rendition of the LIttle Women. I am big fan of the original and liked to see the similarities that the author drew out of the characters and situations while staying on your toes through the unknown. I think fans of the original will like the book but it may be confusing or not as fast paced as some readers would like who have not read the original by Louisa May Alcott.

As a kid who loved Little Women, this re-imagining tugged on my heartstrings in a BIG way. I got both the book and the audio book (so the review will be the same). But i appreciated the new outcomes for the characters. I felt "SEEN" as a Black person who had ancestors living during this time in American history.

It took me a while to get into this—the beginning was a little slow and the prose is not the clearest—but once it got going, I enjoyed it. Morrow did a great job of remaking the classic story with young Black women in the Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke during the Civil War. Would definitely recommend!

<i>"It was the benefit of having four daughters. One of them anyway. They consoled each other when one needed it. Whoever was downtrodden, she had three sisters to set her right again."</i>

TL;DR: An absolutely fantastic retelling of Louisa May Alcott's classic <i>Little Women</i> which stays true to the heart of Alcott's original work and yet does something powerful and inventive with the premise.
<b><i>I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</b></i>

Vibes: Alcott's <i>Little Women</i> merged with history.
As Morrow notes in her Author's Note -- and which I didn't know -- the Roanoke Island FreedPeople Colony actually existed. I'd like to learn more about it.

Genre: Historical Fiction / Retelling
I think this book has a wide appeal, and should resist classification as YA or New Adult. I often find retellings -- of classics and fairy tales in particular -- difficult to categorize, because they seem to transcend classification. That is, if you enjoyed the original story, you're probably likely to enjoy the retelling, regardless of how old you are.

Character MVP: Jo, forever and always.

Verdict: This book is proof that you shouldn't write an author off because you don't like one of their books. I was...not a fan of Morrow's <i>A Song Below Water</i> books, at all. While I appreciated what Morrow was trying to get across with her messages about the power and silencing of Black women, the world-building wasn't there, and the mythology wasn't conveyed. (Plus, Naema, the MC of the sequel was just awful for 75% of the book.) And, to be honest, reading those two books made me really hesitant to read Morrow's retelling of Little Women, which I was really looking forward to.

I should have read this book first.

This book was fantastic.

And, no. It's not cultural appropriation as I've seen some of the negative reviews insist. It's not cultural appropriation just like Gregory Maguire didn't appropriate <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> or like Aiden Thomas didn't appropriate <i>Peter Pan</i>. For one thing, being "white" isn't a culture. And two, you can't appropriate the dominant culture because appropriation, by definition, hinges on that power dynamic.

But I digress.

As someone who is a diehard fan of <i>Little Women</i>*, I thought Morrow's retelling was reverent yet inventive.
*I tend to just pretend that Part II doesn't exist, because it undoes the best parts of Part I. Beth still lives and Jo and Laurie end up together.

✔︎ -- Morrow captured the heart of the March women and maintained it in her retelling. Mrs. March is still the stalwart matriarch; Meg is still domestically inclined and nurturing; Jo is still rebellious and literary; Beth is still calm and Good and ill; and Amy is still the youngest, and artistically inclined.

✔︎ -- There are subtle allusions to the original story like Meg and Jo dancing at the party or Jo, Lorie, and Amy ice-skating, and Mr. March's name here is Alcott -- all of which respectfully pay homage to the original story.
If anything, I thought Morrow focused more on Meg, than Alcott did -- at least in the sense that Meg and Jo are at the heart of this story. There's more depth and nuance to Meg here, and she's presented more complexly. In Alcott's text, I felt like Jo and Amy dominate the narrative, perhaps because their personalities are the strongest, and their tension propels the story forward.
On the plus side, here, Amy is significantly less bratty -- and while she and Jo bicker, there is no burning of manuscripts or other fights. Amy is still the youngest and is uniquely indulged, but it makes sense within Morrow's story.
My only quibble is that Jo and Beth's relationship isn't the same. In Alcott's text, the two sisters are essentially polar opposites, and Beth has a unique ability to understand Jo, and soothe her tempestuous outbursts. That relationship isn't in Morrow's text -- if anything, it feels a bit <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> with Meg and Jo having a very Jane-and-Lizzie bond. It's a very minor quibble, though.

✔︎ -- But Morrow makes it her own: the Marches are no longer the white family safely ensconced in New England; they are emancipated slaves building a new life for themselves the Freed People colony on Roanoke Island.

This book, powerful as it was, made me uncomfortable sometimes, but in a constructive way. And saying that I was uncomfortable isn't a criticism -- it's a testament to how much further I think we as a society have to go. I don't think it was Morrow's primary goal to educate white readers and/or make them uncomfortable: such an opinion would be extremely self-centered and narcissistic; it isn't Morrow's job to educate her white readers or write primarily for them. Instead, I think it's a logical consequence of a white reader reading the story that Morrow told, from the perspective she told it from.

This was a 5-star read for me, regardless, but one of the main reasons is that I will absolutely read this with my children and recommend it to everyone. I think it should absolutely be taught in schools alongside Alcott's original story -- although, sadly, I doubt it will.

One of the passages that stood out to me the most was when Meg was describing "the old life," when she was the companion of the little white girl who lived in the Big House. In my Disney class, we talk about <i>The Princess and the Frog</i> -- a landmark text for Disney, since it features their first animated Black protagonist/princess. And while it's wonderful for Tiana to have a real, human, female friend in Charlotte, there is something awful idealistic about their friendship. On the one hand, yes: seeing two women support each other is something we've been missing in Disney animated films; but PatF tried to do too much. As the film which kicked off the New Golden Age of Disney, it had to be progressive and present its female characters differently than it had over the past 60 years. But, in the end, it's a film set in the 1920s Deep South, and it tries to neatly sidestep any real racial tension. Meg and the white girl could have easily been Tiana and Lottie -- but Morrow presents the unDisneyfied version of their relationship.

✔︎ -- Finally -- and this is super spoilery -- but this book earned an automatic Bonus Star from me because (1) Beth DOESN'T die and (2) Jo and Lorie end up together. Had I been on the fence about anything else about this book, that narrative resolution would have won me over.
Every time I watch an adaptation of read the story, I hope that Amy and Laurie don't end up together because while I fully understand that Amy is the youngest and insufferable, I can't forgive her early brattiness. And Jo ending up with some stodgy old professor? Bestill my heart. NO.
I love and appreciate how Morrow was true to their characters but gave them more satisfying endings. That is, Meg still ends up married and, presumably, in domestic wedded bliss.
Amy still ends up in the spotlight, with a bright future her charm and talent have afforded her.
But Jo? Jo ends up with Lorie who loves and respects her, who KNOWS her, truly, and accepts her. I...just...loved their relationship in Morrow's version.
And Beth? I don't fully know what illness Beth is supposed to have (and I am curious to try and learn more), but Beth gets her own happy ending -- she still ends up home in Heaven, although it's thankfully more metaphorical here, and not literal.

I enjoyed the fresh take on Little Women and that it was an African American family. The clever way in which the book kept to the original while adding it's own unique spin was well done.

A fresh and inspiring twist on a classic tale that adds new depth and thoughtfulness while still shining a light on sisterhood at its finest!

I read and enjoyed both the original Little Women and this book, so I can say without a doubt that anyone criticizing this for “appropriating” the original is doing so in bad faith. Retellings are very much ingrained in our culture and entertainment media. Hell, this novel is part of a retelling series called REMIXED CLASSICS, so there’s no way you don’t know what you’re getting into! I don’t see this type of vitriol for reimaginings like 10 Things I Hate About You or even Jo & Laurie and hmmm… I can’t imagine why! [/end sarcasm] The spirit of Little Women is there, but there’s also a lovely consideration of how these women’s lives would be transformed under different circumstances.

The story begins in the Roanoke Island Freedman’s Colony in 1863, where the Marsh family has settled after escaping slavery. Mr. Marsh is still battling in the Civil War while his wife and four daughters help found one of the few safe havens for black people in the South during that time. The personalities of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are all quite similar to what we’ve come to expect from these characters, but they have distinct stories. Meg is a teacher working to educate the children of the colony with little aid. Jo is a sharp writer, but rather than writing books and plays, she’s writing literary pieces on the Southern black experience for Union readers. Beth is still sickly and frail, but she’s learning about her needs and new possibilities through her illness. Amy is a typical youngest sibling, but she’s got spunk and talent that takes her places.

Let’s be clear: The March family is unapologetically black in this novel. The author never shies away from the way their blackness affects their lives and yes, it affects very many things, because again this starts in the midst of the Civil War. It sometimes does this by showing everyday racism by “well-meaning” (usually white) folks. There’s only one white side character we see more than once and she often has to sit with the wrongness of her assumptions in front of the March family. And she should! It’s actually refreshing to see a novel that doesn’t glorify its white ally as “always getting it” or “one of the good guys,” while also refusing to vilify her. There’s actual nuance and it’s GREAT.

Despite the era and its tumultuousness, there’s also a lot of joy to be had. We see these characters going on adventures, going to parties, finding themselves, and falling in love. I especially loved the story of Jo and her Lorie, which features some unexpected rep and some really endearing moments. This novel also does more justice to Meg, who I personally believe drew the short straw of the storylines in the original tale. Jo is still my favorite of the bunch, but we get a thorough dive into each sister’s life that will help readers relate to all of them.

So Many Beginnings tells fresh stories for these characters, reconsidering major plot points from the original and turning them on their head. The result is something that’s ultimately more hopeful than the original, but it still has some equally bittersweet moments within. Even without measuring it against its inspiration, this is a sweet historical fiction that tells its story well (better than most historical fiction, in my opinion!) and will leave you absolutely charmed in the end.