A review by serendipitysbooks
So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow

emotional informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

 So Many Beginnings is the story of four sisters and their mother, and takes place while their father is away fighting in the Civil War. Yes, the sisters are called Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy but no, this book is not Little Women. It may be subtitled A Little Women Remix but to me it read as a wholly original story that just happens to make use of some elements from Little Women. This is a story about a recently emancipated Black family looking to build a new life. It is a book that is strident and unapologetic in its politics, a book that has as much to say about race and racism today, as it does about issues of race 125 years ago. I suspect many readers will object to it on these grounds. I am not one of those readers. I loved virtually everything about it - especially what I learnt and how it prompted me to think about new (to me) things or to reconsider old things through a new lens. For instance the setting, the Freedmen’s Colony of Roanoke Island, was new to me and I was fascinated by what I learnt. I also enjoyed being prompted to think about the different ways Black people might have viewed Liberia, or the mixed emotions fighting in the Union army, when the Union itself was racist, might evoke for a Black soldier. This is a richly layered story, not a mere simple retelling. It’s use of certain elements from a “classic” should force readers to reconsider that classic (all classics really) with fresh eyes, to ask themselves what is included in it, what is not and why? 
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