Virginia Kantra | Fiction 2020

I did some research and found the largest bookstore in the Miami airport, Books & Books.  They didn’t have either of two upcoming book club reads, so I had to punt.  I settled on this fun read, Meg & Jo.  Yes, it is a modern-day version of two of the Little Women.  It was fun to read, and Kantra provides more depth of characters than I was expecting.  This is about sisters Meg and Jo, in their late 20’s, navigating careers, relationships, and, of course, family.

I was glad I saw the movie Little Women over the holidays, or I would have missed ALL of the call-backs to the original book by Louisa May Alcott.  For example, here’s one I caught.  In Kundra’s version, instead of Amy burning Jo’s manuscript, she deletes a letter Jo is working on.  Modern twists and turns imbue this novel with a sense of realism and relevance.

The further I read, the more I appreciated how the author developed real characters for Meg and Jo.  Depth, intimacy, personality, sadness, introspection, and a lot of humor.  While it is not the East of Eden of 2020, I recommend Meg & Jo if you want a read that will entertain you, while you gaze outside at the snowy streets.  And I will keep my eyes open for her next novel, Beth & Amy (the other two sisters).