Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Meg and Jo” by Virginia Kantra, Berkley, 12/3/19

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Meg & Jo” A Contemporary Retelling of Little Women” by Virginia Kantra, Berkley, 12/3/19

Virginia Kantra, author of “Meg & Jo”  “A Contemporary Retelling of Little Women” has written a unique and intriguing novel. I absolutely adored “Little Women”, and imagining the setting changed to a modern version, piqued my interest. I am somewhat conflicted as I write my review. There are two aspects that I feel fall into play. The first is this does this read like a contemporary retelling of “Little Women”?  The second aspect is, Did I enjoy and would I recommend this story?

The Genres for this story are Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, Romance, and Family Drama. The story takes place in the author’s present and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The March family lives on a farm with goats, and each of the four adult women each has distinctive personalities, and are trying to lead their own lives. The author describes her colorful and dramatic cast of characters as complex and complicated.

Meg is reliable and married with two active twin children. Jo is independent and her writing skills start off as a blogger of food, while she works with a famous chef. Beth is very artistic and has a beautiful voice, and Amy is creative but attention-seeking. All of the sisters come home after an emergency. The Matriarch of the family carries a lot of responsibility and the father counsels the men and women who have served our country and have problems. This emergency forces the sisters to evaluate the meaning of sisterhood, family, communication and what is truly important in life.

If I were to read the same story with the same characters using different names, and not being told this was a contemporary retelling of “Little Women”, I might not realize that at times. At other times I might have a deja-vu experience. On the other hand, I enjoyed the story as written and would want to read more about the sisters. I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction and family drama.