Leave It to the March Sisters

Sereno revisits the small college town she introduced in Blame It on the Brontës for a witty riff on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Sereno’s take on the classic keeps the spotlight on Amy, chair of the English department at Southern Illinois College, rather than her sister Jo, a Seattle high school teacher, or Meg, who, in this telling, is their mother. (There’s no Beth in sight.) Amy and med school dropout Theo Sinclair, her childhood friend and first crush, had a major falling-out years before the start of the book, but when Amy’s deadbeat boyfriend kicks her out, Amy has nowhere else to turn and she and Theo wind up as roommates. The pair reconcile—and even flirt—but Amy’s convinced that Theo is hung up on Jo and will never think of her the same way. Sereno handles her characters’ transition from friends to lovers with grace and includes just enough echoes of Alcott’s original to enchant Little Women aficionados while keeping them guessing. Cameos from the previous books’ leads are an extra treat for returning readers. Sereno’s fans will be pleased. Agent: Erin Niumata and Rachel Ekstrom, Folio Literary. (May)