By Jeanne Birdsall
Louisa settled at her desk, preparing to slog through another chapter of Little Women, this book she was writing only for the money. It was meant to be read by girls, which meant she needed to stay away from high drama and thunder, her usual ways to advance a story. She rubbed her temples—a headache threatened—unwittingly mussing her hair. Who was she to write for girls? A woman who’d never been a conventional girl, who barely knew what such girls talked about and wished for.
Stop fussing, she told herself, and get to work. Where was she in the story? The mother of the March family, Marmee, had just rushed home from Washington, where she’d been nursing the girls’ father, to find that Beth had miraculously escaped death from scarlet fever. The chapter needed to begin with quiet joy and gratitude. Louisa picked up her pen and wrote: Chapter 20, Confidential. I don’t think I have any words in which to tell the meeting of the mother and daughters . . . Oh, blast! What a pitiable beginning. She didn’t think she had the words? She’d better find them. She’d put too much labor into this book to abandon it now.
It took a while, but the words did come, as they always did for disciplined, hard-working Louisa. As she went, she found bits she could be proud of. Meg and Jo feeding Marmee like dutiful young storks. Amy, in exile at Aunt Josephine’s to keep her safe from scarlet fever, generously letting Laurie sleep off his exhaustion. But it was later in the chapter, when Jo talks to Marmee about John Brooke’s wooing of Meg, and what need be done about it, that Louisa’s words flew across the pages. Jo was always easiest for her to write, with all that stomping around and telling of blunt truths–as when she tells Marmee, “I don’t know anything about love, and such nonsense!” and “I wish wearing flat-irons on our heads would keep us from growing up.” Who wouldn’t like writing about Jo?
Soon Meg is innocently proving to Marmee that she’s not in love with John (but soon will be), and Louisa could bring Chapter 20 to a close. She stood up to stretch, unfolding herself like an animated puzzle. After her initial reluctance, she was pleased with the day’s work. Despite Jo and flat-irons, she’d been able to subtly pivot the March sisters away from girlhood and toward incipient womanhood. Who knew what the readers—the girls—would think about that? Louisa didn’t care. It was her story.
She sat down again, picked up her pen, and wrote: Chapter 21.
Jeanne Birdsall shares Louisa May Alcott’s birthplace – Germantown, Pennsylvania – and used this as an excuse to borrow lavishly from Little Women for her own New York Times- bestselling Penderwick series. The National Book Award Jeanne won for the first of the Penderwick books is held jointly with Alcott, whether she knows it or not.
Little Women 150 
Reblogged this on Louisa May Alcott is My Passion and commented:
From the LW150 blog: What a wonderful post by NY Times best-selling author of the Penderwick family novels Jeanne Birdsall!
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Dear Jeanne Birdsall,
I don’t know if you would really read this comment, but I just want to confide something here:
Thank you very much for your Penderwicks – it’s my favorite series of all time and I have also read your last book ten times since its release.
I had a hard time to figure out the way you are “fixing” Little Women. It was always my hope that your series would offer such an alternative story. I really love Little Women, but I was always unhappy about Beth’s death. That is why I’m really glad that no one dies in your series (apart from poor, old Hound)!
Is it coincidence that you wrote about “Confidential”? I guess all you wrote here about Alcott could be also about yourself – because you wrote your story, of course. And I really admire such strength. And your essay is really narrative – a little story by an excellent writer, of course!
However, I needed a good deal of time and collecting literature references to understand your series. Sometimes I feel embarrassed that I didn’t understand it earlier – then I wouldn’t have believed in fan theories. To defend myself: My picture of Little Women was always influenced by the 1949-movie. I really love your Penderwicks, but I feel also that I can’t read Alcott’s other books anymore – Rose in Bloom, Jo’s Boys – because you fixed it, too. I would call “The Penderwicks at last” my favorite book if I was still a child – but Lydia is a Spirit of the Christmas Past for me. I could list 100 reasons why I love it, but this would take too much place. Thank you very much for your Little Women in The Secret Garden at The Enchanted Castle!
It’s interesting that you share Alcott’s birthplace Germantown – and I’m from Germany. This is also a slight excuse for any writing mistakes and my difficult access to the original novel.
By the way, with a close look at my German edition of Little Women Part II, “Teenager wachsen heran” – I should have guessed how YOUR series would turn out.
And yes, who wouldn’t like writing about Jo? I can imagine that it’s fun! I wrote a little, private story of Little Women set in Germany, but I guess it will take years to see if this could really become a novel someday. So far, your series is the best modern retelling of Little Women!
I’m looking forward to your upcoming book projects.
Yours sincerely,
Verena
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