Belittled Women

Belittled Women, by Amanda Sellet, is the story of Little Women with a twist! Actually, it tells the story of Jo Porter, an average modern girl who, alongside her sisters (who have the same names as Louisa May Alcott’s original March girls), takes part in a production of Little Women Live. But there are emotions—just like in the original Little Women, an “olden-times soap opera” as described by one of the sisters. This book has so many pop-cultural references (Wheel of Fortune, Taylor Swift), but my favorite one is the reference where a kid in The Sound of Music “screams ‘Screw this, I hate folk songs’ in the middle of the cuckoo-clock number,” which I’m guessing is “So Long, Farewell.” The book’s irreverence mixed with nostalgia is very appealing. Every chapter comes with a quote from the original Little Women. My favorite is “These hearts of ours are curious and contrary things, and time and nature work their will in spite of us.” But all these quotes are life lessons to the reader. There’s a bunch of humor in this book, like the “possible new slogan”: “Little Women Live! At least we don’t reek of cat pee!” I recommend this to anyone who loves women-centered romantic comedies, as well as those who are fans of Alcott’s original work.