A review by teriboop
Marmee by Sarah Miller
5.0
Marmee retells the Louisa May Alcott novel Little Women from the perspective of Mrs. March, who is known as Marmee, to her four daughters. Written as a series of diary entries, Marmee bares her every thought through the events covered in the original novel that cover the time period of December 24, 1861, through December 25, 1868. As the story opens, Marmee and her daughters, Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth, along with their housekeeper, Hannah, struggle to make ends meet during the Civil War while Mr. March is away at the front lines, providing service to Union soldiers as a preacher. By the end of the story, Mr. March has returned, and each girl has followed their own path in life.
This book closely follows the original novel with some embellishments to the thoughts and actions of Marmee. Miller expertly fills in some meat to the story using real-life events from the Alcott family that inspired Louisa May Alcott's novel. These embellishments give the original story more depth and feeling, at least from Marmee's perspective. As a fan of the original, I loved this perspective. It's a more adult version of Little Women. In the author's notes of the book, Miller mentions that Abigail Alcott, the mother of Louisa May, who Marmee is modeled after, was much more "rough" than her fictional version. Miller tried to show more of the personality of Abigail Alcott in a smoothed-out way. I think she succeeded quite well.
I look forward to future books by Miller. She did a fantastic job with [b:Caroline: Little House, Revisited|34200946|Caroline Little House, Revisited|Sarah Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1491592154l/34200946._SY75_.jpg|55266038] that reimagines the character of Caroline Ingalls, mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, of the Little House on the Prairie series. Can't wait to see where Miller takes us next.
This book closely follows the original novel with some embellishments to the thoughts and actions of Marmee. Miller expertly fills in some meat to the story using real-life events from the Alcott family that inspired Louisa May Alcott's novel. These embellishments give the original story more depth and feeling, at least from Marmee's perspective. As a fan of the original, I loved this perspective. It's a more adult version of Little Women. In the author's notes of the book, Miller mentions that Abigail Alcott, the mother of Louisa May, who Marmee is modeled after, was much more "rough" than her fictional version. Miller tried to show more of the personality of Abigail Alcott in a smoothed-out way. I think she succeeded quite well.
I look forward to future books by Miller. She did a fantastic job with [b:Caroline: Little House, Revisited|34200946|Caroline Little House, Revisited|Sarah Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1491592154l/34200946._SY75_.jpg|55266038] that reimagines the character of Caroline Ingalls, mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, of the Little House on the Prairie series. Can't wait to see where Miller takes us next.