Member Reviews

In this sequel to Meg and Jo, Beth and Amy March are called back to their hometown in North Carolina for their sister Jo’s wedding. They appear to be leading exciting lives, but there is a lot hidden beneath the surface. Beth is on tour with her country singer boyfriend, but she’s suffering in secret with her health. Amy has designed a successful line of purses, but she really wants to find love with the one man who doesn’t love her back. All of the March women are reunited again as they find their places in the world and their family.

I haven’t read Little Men, the sequel to Little Men, so I was surprised at what happened in this novel. I won’t give any spoilers, but Amy’s love interest was quite surprising to me. I didn’t like that relationship at the beginning, but by the end of the book I was rooting for them to be together. These characters were so well developed that I changed my mind about them and I loved them at the end.

I like the way this retelling has been adapted to a modern setting. For example, Beth’s illness of scarlet fever in Little Women was turned into an eating disorder in this story. Beth having an eating disorder and anxiety makes it more relatable to a modern audience, rather than having scarlet fever like she had in the original book. The personalities of the characters were the same as in the original book and they fulfilled the same character roles, but in a modern setting.

Beth and Amy is a great retelling of Little Women.

Thank you Berkley Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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It’s a modern retelling of Little Women and the four beloved sisters are dealing with 21st C. problems!

This is the sequel to Meg & Jo which I read last year and loved! I was so excited to read about Beth & Amy.

Beth is a country songwriter and singer who is on tour with her famous boyfriend but she is dealing with some serious mental, emotional and physical health issues that she doesn’t want anyone to see. She heads back home for Jo’s wedding and realizes that the dream she has been chasing might not be the dream she wants. Beth is still our kind hearted angel trying to find her place in a world where everyone wants to be something and be somewhere. It was very hard to read about Beth’s issues in this book and I would encourage everyone to take caution before diving in.

I was most excited to read about Amy and see what her modern day relationship with Trey (aka Laurie) would be like. I like that we got to see this couple work through the obvious barriers in their relationship. I think I would have liked a bit of a longer conversation for this one but Virginia Kantra did a great job giving us all the feels.

This one was definitely more emotional than the first but I really enjoyed being in a modern world with the March sisters!

Thank you @berkleypub and @berkleyromance for sending this my way.

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“Beth & Amy” is the much anticipated follow-up to last year's debut, “Meg & Jo”. In this new book, the younger March sisters, Beth & Amy, return to North Carolina for older sister Jo’s wedding. Outwardly successful, each sister harbors their own personal burdens and are reluctant to bring them up as they reunite with their family.

Beth has found fame and success as a Country singer. She tours with her mega-star singer boyfriend but her hidden struggles with anxiety manifests in a way that may ultimately threaten her health. Meanwhile, Amy’s small business designing handbags is on the cusp of breaking out in the fashion industry. She is at the point where she will need financial investment to take her business to the next level but is determined to make it on her own terms. Amy, who had a one-night stand with her sister’s ex-boyfriend, is now worried what damage will be caused if her secret is exposed.

Beth and Amy were my least favorite characters in the original story, so I really enjoyed how Ms. Kantra has developed their characters. Even their mother, Abby, is given a POV, which I applauded.

If you haven’t read Little Women (you should) or the first book, Meg & Jo, this book still stands alone and is a heartwarming retelling of a classic story of the love and unbreakable bond that these four sisters share.

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I enjoyed Beth and Amy so much! I did read Meg and Jo before reading this one. I loved the modern elements of these characters. Even though I have not read or watched the original book or movies, I believe this was a great modern representation of these characters. Now I want to read the original book to appreciate these books and characters even more.

Thank you, Berkley and NetGalley, for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Little Women was one of my favorite books growing up. I haven’t yet read the first in this retelling duology, but I jumped at the chance to read an eARC of this from NetGalley.

While the setting, plot, and characters’ ages are all updated and modernized, the personality and heart of each character are very true to the original characters.

It was hard for me to separate my love for the original from this story initially. But when I was able to do that, I appreciated what the author did.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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Cute story but felt it was so heavy on the body image and eating disorder, it felt repetitive. I liked how the mom makes a name for herself and stands up for what she wants.

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We’re back with our favorite March sisters as we move on from Jo and Meg to the youngest of the bunch: Amy and Beth. Amy is my personal favorite as I always loved her wit and confidence, Beth I’m kind of meh about but her story of becoming a songwriter was very interesting (love when Nashville is in an book ✌🏼). I also thought this one was interesting because it also brought in the mom’s perspective, which was not in the first one so I thought that it was a nice surprise. Of the two novels this one is my favorite!

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This was such a fun retelling. I love Virginia Kantra's writing and this book showcases why. I was hooked from the beginning and found the story very entertaining. I definitely recommend this book!

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Little Women has been on my favorite book list since I read the book in my younger years. I definitely had to read Meg & Jo when @virginiakantra released it. Which means, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read Beth & Amy for @BerkelyPub . Both books are a modern retelling of Little Women. I couldn’t be more delighted

In this installment, the focus is centered on Beth and Amy. Beth's devastating illness in the original telling has a modern twist of being an eating disorder. This is what brings her back home to the farm rather than touring with her hunky country singer boyfriend. Amy has also returned home from NYC because of some medical issues her mother is enduring.

I love that Kantra kept the original tendencies and characterizations of the original story. The themes of love, family, and hope that embodies the March family despite all the challenges are still there. It felt like reading updates on old friends.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing, Virignia Kantra, @berkleyromance @letstalkbookspromo and @netgalley for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

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The two youngest March sisters are all grown up and reading to spread their wings and leave the nest. The pair embark on separate journeys that takes them all over the world from their small farm in North Carolina to more exotic locales such as Paris and New York. Beth, who has worked had to earn a living from her talents is battling some tough obstacles along the way. Her journey towards unwanted fame has left her unfulfilled, disillusioned, and longing for the comforts of home. She has lost her sense of self and struggles to find the farm girl she seems to have lost along the way. Amy, on the other hand, has worked hard to chart her own course in life that will set her apart from her sisters. While she has found great success as a handbag designer in New York City, she has had far less success in her love life. Still struggling with unrequited feelings for a significant other, Amy finds it difficult to maintain the delicate balance between her desire for fame and notoriety with the distance and stress this puts between herself and her family.
Beth and Amy is a masterful modern day retelling of the classic Little Women, this time focusing on the younger March sisters. Told in alternating viewpoints that allows for greater insight into the thoughts, feelings and motivations behind the main characters actions, the story follows the pair as they set off on their own journeys of self discovery. While Meg and Jo are featured less prominently in the story, they are still a vital piece of the story along with Abby, the matriarch of the family. For the first time ever, Abby is able to tell her story with a modern twist. She knows better than anyone the struggle to maintain your identity while giving so much of yourself to your family and the toll this takes over time, a struggle many will be able to relate to. The story was immersive, drawing you in from the beginning and contained some inventive new twists to help bring the March sisters into the modern world. The characters, from the main to the periphery are well drawn out and complex, extending and adding to the original characters without detracting from or altering from the much beloved classic. I highly recommend Beth and Amy for fans of Little Women as well as those looking for a refreshing contemporary read for the summer.

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3.5 stars

Little Women was the first time I saw myself in a book character. Jo March was me idol as a child. I especially loved the Winona Ryder film version of this classic and always felt like Jo March was so me and whenever I envision Jo March, I think of Winona Ryder. Jo March will forever be one of my favorite classic characters and one I strongly identify with where as Amy will forever be the girl who stole Laurie from her! Amy is my least favorite March sister.

I haven’t read Virginia Kantra’s modern reimagined book Meg and Jo yet but it was high up on my TBR list. When this next book on Beth and Amy came up for review, I had to jump at it even if Amy isn’t my favorite. I was eager to see a modern take on such a classic story and see how those timeless characters were portrayed in a modern setting.

For me, books like this can go either way. Classic characters in a modern setting don’t always work for some reason. I think a lot of readers have nostalgia connected to those characters and seeing them in a world that isn’t their norm, makes it hard to connect with them. But I was open to trying this one and seeing where it took me.

Summary
Four sisters face new beginnings in this heartfelt modern take on Little Women by New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra.

Amy March is more like her older sister Jo than she’d like to admit. An up-and-coming designer in New York’s competitive fashion industry, ambitious Amy is determined to get out of her sisters’ shadow and keep her distance from their North Carolina hometown. But when Jo’s wedding forces her home, she must face what she really wants…and confront the One Big Mistake that could upend her life and forever change her relationship with Jo.

Gentle, unassuming Beth grew up as the good girl of the family. A talented singer-songwriter, she’s overcome her painful anxiety to tour with country superstar Colt Henderson. But life on the road has taken its toll on her health and their relationship. Maybe a break to attend her sister’s wedding will get her out of her funk. But Beth realizes that what she’s looking for and what she needs are two very different things….

With the March women reunited, this time with growing careers and families, they must once again learn to lean on one another as they juggle the changes coming their way. (summary from Goodreads)

Review
The first thing I had to do when I started reading this one, was immediately let go of that fact that this was not going to be anything like the childhood classic. I think if readers can get past the fact that this isn’t a modern Little Women, I think they will be fine. Fans will find traits and similarities in this one but that’s about it. Accept it and move on so you can enjoy your book without those expectations. But sometimes that’s easier said than done, I know. This one was enjoyable and I liked getting the know the March sisters in a new way but having Laurie be called Trey was a little jarring. Maybe if I had read the first book then that wouldn’t have been so jarring but for me it was.

I don’t think that these books need to be read in order, but I think it would have helped prepare me a bit more for some of the connections and new modern storyline. I thought the author did stay true to the general characterization of the March sisters from the classic tale. I enjoyed sweet Beth and I actually found that I liked Amy better in this book than in the classic. I think one of the most exciting things in this book was that Beth felt like a more complete character. In the classic she was the least developed (probably because she dies) but in this one she is a lot more developed and interesting while still maintaining the sweet integrity of the classic.

It’s a quick easy read, some parts were a little slow but overall I felt like it flowed well and I found myself finished before I knew it. This book does have an eating disorder component which I think readers should be aware of though, it is a big part in the story so if that’s not your thing then maybe this might not be the book for you, but I thought it was a delight to read and I am eager to read Meg and Jo now and see what their story was like in this new modern world!

Book Info and Rating
Format352 pages, Paperback

Expected publication May 25, 2021 by Berkley Books

ISBN9780593100363 (ISBN10: 0593100360)

Free review copy provided by publisher, Berkley Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Genre: retellings, contempo lit, romance

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Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing group for the eARC.

I am a huge fan of Little Women, so of course I was interested in Kantra's modern day retellings of it. Beth and Amy is the sequel to Meg and Jo which I thoroughly enjoyed. Beth and Amy didn't quite live up to Meg and Jo for me, I really liked it, I just didn't love it. This could be also because Amy and Beth were my least favorite characters in Little Women and also in this series. Jo will forever be my favorite.

"It's a wedding... you're not meant to be comfortable. That's why God invented Spanx."
" 'I'm pretty sure that was Satan' Jo said"

In Beth and Amy, I found Amy's inner thoughts, about Trey and her relationship with and comparisons to her sisters to be extremely repetitive, to the point that her character really began to irritate me. I did like the direction that Beth's story line took and how it ended. I found this to be an entertaining and easy read and would recommend this series to fans of Little Women and HEA romances that are light on steam.

TW - eating disorder

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Beth and Amy
Virginia Kantra

Beth and Amy is the follow up book to Meg and Jo, the first book of this series, which is a contemporary retelling of Little Women.

Kantra graced us in this installment, a story that is centered on Beth and Amy. Kantra's take on Beth's devastating illness in the first book, is an eating disorder in this modern twist. Told in Beth and Amy's point of view as well as their mother Abby's, this story was so poignant and heartfelt that I enjoyed so much.

Though many things have changed in this modern retelling, the gist of the story's characters and overall representation remains very nostalgic to me as a reader. I think it's because it covers the overall themes of love, family, and of course the hopefulness that embodies the March family despite all the challenges and difficulties they may be facing.

Highly Recommend!

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Amy March is making her own way in the world, or so she thinks. After moving to New York and struggling to launch her budding design career, Instagram influencers and boutiques have finally noticed her chic luggage brand, and sales are booming. The last thing she wants to do is to come home and face her sisters and most of all, Trey Lawrence.

Good girl Beth has finally left North Carolina to pursue a dream of becoming a country music singer. She’s writing songs and touring with Colt Henderson, the biggest star in the business. But when the pressure starts to build and her health suffers, Beth questions her dream, which might not be hers after all.

Beth & Amy continues the contemporary retelling of Little Women started by Virginia Kantra in last year’s Meg & Jo. While I enjoyed Meg & Jo, this second installment is even better. Kantra fleshes out the characters of Amy and Beth with more details and nuance than the original while staying true to their personalities. Likewise, the slow-burn development of Trey (Laurie) and Amy’s relationship delightfully compensates for any disappointment resulting from their hasty marriage in Little Women. Best of all, the chemistry of the sisters and the entire March family remains in tact. I especially liked how Kantra explored the complexities of Marmee and Father’s fraught relationship. Retellings walk a fine line between honoring the original source material and modernizing the story. Beth & Amy is both faithful to the spirit of Little Women but creative enough to stand on its own. I loved it! Beth & Amy comes out today.

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THREE CHEERS FOR THIS GEM OF A BOOK!
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I really love the story of Little Women. I love the book, the movies (the original more than the latest), I love when Joey reads it on Friends and has to put in the freezer... I just love it all! So I knew I had to read Virginia Kantra's modern-day retellings!
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I want to note that I haven't yet read Meg & Jo (but I definitely will) and I would advise readers to pick up that one up first as Beth & Amy is definitely a continuation of the story. However, I did still enjoy this book even without reading the first! And if you're familiar with the story of Little Women, you should have no trouble!
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The writing is MAGICAL in this book and I think that's why I loved it so much. Kantra definitely has a way with words and her prose rolled off my tongue. I loved the modern-day details that were added to this classic. Amy has always been my least favorite March sister, but this book had me loving Amy and her story and her sass :)!
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This book deals with some difficult topics (TW: Eating disorder), but I found the story and the message to be inspiring and very feel-good. I really enjoyed every time I picked up the story, comforted by the pretty writing and the familiar details of the March family!
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Get this book on your TBR!

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In most Little Women adaptations, Beth and Amy March take a backseat in their older sister’s tale and are limited in their roles. But in Beth and Amy, Virginia Kantra’s new novel, the two sisters come alive and take centre stage in this modern adaptation. As a sequel to Kantra’s first book, Meg and Jo, we meet back with the March family at a new set of crossroads and a different set of voices. A love letter to the younger siblings of the world, this heartfelt adaptation will capture your heart right away.

Three years after the events of Meg and Jo, the younger March sisters are out in the world, making names for themselves. Amy is an up-and-coming handbag designer in New York City, trying to prove to her family and the world that she is a force to be reckoned with. She is determined to escape older sister Jo’s shadow, while constantly reminded of her unrequited feelings and history with Jo’s ex. Beth is out on the road, touring with the famous country singer, Colt Henderson and getting used to life in the spotlight. It should be her dream come true, but the music career is taking a toll on her relationship and health. As they both head home to celebrate Jo and Eric’s wedding, they both are thrown right back into the roles they always played growing up while grappling with who they want to be. Beth and Amy must try to reconcile these new lives, identities, and secrets they are building with the roles that they play so naturally with their family. Their sisters had their opportunity to share their stories, now it is Beth and Amy’s turn.

I loved the first book about the March sisters, and Beth and Amy did not disappoint! It was nice to see the younger two have more of a focus in a Little Women adaptation. Both girls felt so real in the modern age, while also staying truthful to the original material. Unlike Meg and Jo, who felt very connected from the start of their novel, Amy and Beth start off very distant from each other. They were never friends growing up and are still very different, which is evident in their narrations. However, their distinct voices never feel disjointed and their journeys compliment each other very well. Their sibling dynamic is so relatable. However, the roles that are expected of them are such flat representations of who they really are. It was really interesting to see how they responded to those roles and how they influenced their relationships.

Both Beth and Amy are incredibly sympathetic and enjoyable characters because they were given so much more depth than their original Little Women characterisation. They often talk about the roles that each sister fell into growing up, which also happen to be the roles that they play in all adaptations. Beth is the good one, and Amy is the baby. Usually, they are very static characters from Jo’s point of view, and while they felt true to their origins, they had much more agency. The emphasis on the roles they play in their family felt like a direct response to other iterations, poking gentle fun at their usual roles in adaptations.

I never really liked Amy March in previous adaptations but though she was still jealous and a bit spoiled in this adaptation, her motivations and overall personality were much more clear and sympathetic. Beth never usually gets the chance to have a plotline beyond her caring nature and her tragic ending. While she was still always motivated to help others before herself, she has so much more life and autonomy. Kantra took important moments to their characters, such as Amy falling into the lake and Beth getting sick, but adapted it into clever twists and thoughtful growth. She especially addresses Beth’s health issues with incredible care and depth as we see it develop both from Beth’s point of view and Amy’s outside perspective.

One surprise that was a nice touch was the addition of their mother in Abby’s own chapters. In the first book, her life was changing completely with her time in the hospital and her decision to separate from her absent husband. This book explores the effects of that year and what it is like to be the mother to four very different adult women while running a farm and building a life by herself. The town and her family all expect so much from her, especially after she asked her husband to move out. Abby’s reflection on life and her present conflicts create an interesting opposition to both Beth and Amy who are also struggling with independence, desires, and romance.

It can be difficult sometimes to adapt a classic novel into modern times and keep the spirit intact yet also fresh but Kantra delivers. I would highly recommend reading Meg and Jo first if you haven’t already because it sets up a lot of the background for Beth and Amy and you get to know the sisters very differently. Both novels are stories about the ebbs and flows of family, and about staying connected even during times of turmoil. This novel reminds me of a polaroid of a family dinner, where everyone gathers together for a moment of joy. They invited readers in like we are part of the family and treat us to a warm meal of support and hope. It was very sentimental and captured the spirit of Little Women so well. Kantra breathes refreshing life into these classic figures and these modern women are strong, messy, and just delightful to get to know.

If you are a fan of Little Women, or even just a fan of cosy yet realistic hometown family stories, you will love this series!

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This review is a hard one to write because my feelings about the original LITTLE WOMEN impact my feelings on this book. So you’ve been warned.

I really enjoyed reading MEG & JO and I was looking forward to reading BETH & AMY with anticipation and a bit of trepidation. Why, you may ask? Because I’m still salty about Laurie and Amy being a couple. I wasn’t on board then and I’m not on board now. And honestly, I couldn’t give this book a fair chance when it comes to that part because I never liked Amy and I didn’t think this was a good couple. What I do think is that Ms. Kantra did a great job at bringing a lot of what the original characters were like into today’s modern world setting. But every time these two were on the page, I just got a bit ragey and it definitely impacted my enjoyment of this book.

That being said, the rest was so good! I loved the glimpses we get into the girls parent’s love life, Beth’s struggle with an eating disorder which was handled well I thought, and the subject of addiction. I wanted more and more of all of this even when it felt like Amy was consuming so much of the pages.

I think one of my favorite things about the way Virginia Kantra did these retellings is that she captures that cozy feeling of LITTLE WOMEN and represents it so well. Family is still central and essential part and I loved seeing the March sisters rally together against anything that’s thrown their way.

These two books are the retellings you didn’t know you needed and I loved seeing this version of their world.

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Another great story about sibling dynamics in this modern retelling of Little Woman centering on Beth and Amy.

I enjoyed this installment, the story line was relatable. Amy is a fashion designer and Beth is a singer, both on a journey to pursue their dreams far from each other.

Though I did enjoy Amy’s story a little more than Beth’s, though Beth has a bit of drama that I think was handled well. They both grew as the story went on and both storylines were credible fun and quirky.
A great summer read to add to your tbr.

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The sequel to “Meg and Jo,” a re-telling of the adventures of Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters (in a more current time), gives readers the lowdown on the younger girls.
Amy is a fashion designer in New York and not looking to move back to their little North Carolina town. Beth, who is a singer-songwriter seemingly has a wonderful opportunity performing concerts with Colt Henderson, a country singer. Neither is really happy with life.
The entire family is converging on the farm for Jo’s upcoming wedding, so both girls put on smiling faces. It doesn’t take long for Jo and Meg to realize that there is a problem, especially with Beth.
Kantra creates a wonderful story, in keeping with the personalities readers of “Little Women” recall with love, just with a modern twist.

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'Little Women' sequel confronts timely challenges in Virginia Kantra's second novelistic reboot, 'Beth and Amy'

The March Sisters have been blended, drawn and reimagined in more ways than Louisa May Alcott ever could have conceived, but under the pen of veteran novelist Virginia Kantra, a sequel to the sequel of “Little Women” is as timely and important today as was the original in 1868.

In Kantra’s 2019 release, “Meg and Jo (The March Sisters Book 1),” the little women are no longer little and unlike its founding work, the overlap from childhood to womanhood is now nearly complete. Independent and grown up enough to follow their own dreams — and make their own mistakes — plans that include things such as food blogging, homemaking in an upscale subdivision and myriad gigs in a gig economy test not only the elder two March sisters, but the strength of family and sisterhood.

In “Beth and Amy (The March Sister Book 2),” the tests continue, but the younger siblings grab the spotlight — almost literally. Beth, “the good girl of the family,” hooks up with country superstar Colt Henderson and develops a non-symbiotic relationship based on the Grammy-winning songs she’s written, while Amy’s success as a New York City fashion designer is threatened by the pull of family, her sisters and what might have been “one big mistake” during a brief romantic entanglement in Paris.

In developing this well-drawn story, Kantra never shies from tough topics. The girls’ mother, Abby, is separated from their father and issues such as PTSD, self-image, eating disorders and emotional abuse permeate the lives of the Marches.

That this is not nearly as depressing as it sounds is due to the viability of the story Kantra musters. Working from solid source material, the novelist populates a world in which Beth and Amy, Meg and Jo, and others in their orbit face and overcome 21st century challenges and concerns without ever losing the touchstone that family trumps all.

That “family” is a malleable conception here is a solid strength of the novel, and one that not only rings true in an increasingly diverse world, but opens the door for Kantra to travel further down the path from the Massachusetts’ home and kinship welcomed by millions more than a century and a half ago.

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