I may be the only person who never could become interested in the book LITTLE WOMEN, so I started reading the imagined backstory - JO & LAURIE - with less than enthusiasm. To my surprise, I found that the authors had done a good job of creating a behind-the-scenes look into the life of Josephine March and her sisters. They clearly had made a detailed study of Alcott's characters and cleverly incorporated the original descriptions into theirs. The squabbling between Amy and Jo sounds appropriately old fashioned ( just like Alcott's books ), but there is a breath of fresh air with the infusion of more modern emotions, such as Jo's frustration with the publisher, his book title suggestions and editorial change of keeping Beth alive to avoid having a book that was "too sad." Kudos to the authors for their new twist on an old classic. Even though I am not a fan of Alcott in any form, I'm sure many readers will devour this new look into the lives of females in that era.