While a seance with a few beloved authors sounds like a wonderful plan for a department reunion, Davianne will be relieved to know Louisa May Alcott can respond to her concerns through the timeless medium of pen and paper. It turns out that Alcott more than anticipated her readers’ frustrations with Jo’s choice for a husband. As she wrote in a letter to her friend, Elizabeth Powell, in 1869: A sequel will be out early in April, & like all sequels will probably disappoint or disgust most readers, for publishers won't let authors finish up as they like but insist on having people married off in a wholesale manner which much afflicts me. “Jo” should have remained a literary spinster but so many enthusiastic young ladies wrote to me clamorously demanding that she should marry Laurie, or somebody, that I didn't dare refuse & out of perversity went & made a funny match for her. I expect vials of wrath to be poured out upon my head, but rather enjoy the prospect.  P...

Let me just preface this by saying I absolutely loved the book. Gave it 4 stars on Goodreads. Would have given it 4.5 if they had half-star ratings on the site. This book is so beautiful, and the reader can definitely feel how much love and care was put into every page. The emphasis on feminine relationships and familial bonds are so authentic and unlike anything I've read in any other novel. Reading about the love and camaraderie the Marches have for each other, the conflicts they share, and the way those conflicts resolve and strengthen their bonds, all remind me how much I love my own sister. I should call her and let her know. And while I love all of these things, the relationships are somewhat disappointing. Does Alcott know this? Did she intend for her characters to be married off to men I personally do not think deserve these girls, and I am willing to march down to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, summon her with a seance, and ask her ghost, "Why?" Okay, so I want to...