As a child, I was addicted to the 1949 version of Little Women. I loved the story, I couldn't stop watching my VHS tape over and over, but I always had one solid complaint: she turned Laurie down. She turned Laurie down, and then later chose that really old guy?? There was so much chemistry between her and Laurie, and none with Mr. Bhaer, my little heart just couldn't take it. So this was most definitely the version of my heart. I recently finished Little Women before I read this so that I could attest to how true it was to the original, and I really feel like they perfectly captured the original world of Little Women. I honestly felt like no time had passed between the two novels, they went together quite seamlessly. I also feel like the family was more vibrant and brought to life in this book than in the original, because it was a book within a book! 'Little Women' was less lively than this story, because obviously, it was just a book, but this, these are the real characters! It was as though Little Women was in black & white, but Jo & Laurie was full-color. I loved it completely!