Things I share with the Little Women sisters

By Trix Wilkins

From a failed dinner party, missing out on the adventure of a lifetime and receiving a proposal from my best friend, these are the things I share with the March sisters from Little Women.

Many thanks to fellow bloggers NovElla & Banannabelle, fans of Jane Austen, Lord of the Rings and astronomy, who recently nominated Much Ado about Little Women for the One Lovely Blog Award – which in part inspired this post! Now how to accept this honor by complying with the guidelines below while staying within the topic of Little Women…

Guidelines for the One Lovely Blog Award

• Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog in your post.
• Include the rules and add the blog award badge as an image.
• Add 7 facts about yourself.
• Nominate between 3-15 blogs for the award.

7 things I share with the Little Women sisters

I invited my best friend over for dinner intending to make an impressive spread (and failed)

You would think that after having read of Jo’s experience, I would have learned to plan for a dinner party (perhaps trying my hand at cooking the actual dish or something similar by myself first…) – but no.

Like Jo, this disaster involved seafood. It was supposed to be salt and pepper squid, a replica of one of the best meals we’d ever had together; nostalgia and reminiscing at a fraction of the restaurant price.

What actually happened was:

Instead of throwing the squid into the batter I did it the other way around. This resulted in a big gloopy mess. Then I proceeded to undercook the big gloopy mess.

It not only looked unappetizing but dangerous.

I then reluctantly asked whether we ought to call his father to ask for advice (who both knows how to catch and cook fresh seafood), and to my mortification he looked relieved and agreed.

So this is what dinner was supposed to have looked like…thanks Pixabay for the photo!

I love the idea of ice skating outdoors…

Wish there were such things as frozen ponds lakes during winter where we live…Alas, ice skating must be done inside without the fresh breeze and trees and snow – though on occasion a temporary outdoor rink is erected in a park but it’s just not the same.

Admittedly, the danger of falling through the ice and/or watching one’s sister fall through the ice after a row is also not the same, for which I admit I must be thankful.

Like on this frozen lake in Switzerland, photo courtesy of Pixabay

…but on a really cold day I’d rather read Ivanhoe by a warm fire

This is probably the one scenario I’d opt for Meg’s choice over Jo’s in terms of recreational activity – while Jo goes out to shovel snow, Meg toasts her feet while reading.

I loved reading Ivanhoe and would rather re-read that curled up in a soft blanket on a cold day given the option.

Ivanhoe’s heroine Rebecca is brilliant and I suspect Jo would have enjoyed the book immensely – probably not as much as visiting Laurie next door though!

I said the wrong thing at the wrong time and lost the opportunity to travel (for free)

I can’t help feeling heartbroken for Jo every time I read this. Jo and Amy have just called on their aunts, Jo has blurted out things about hating French and being given favors – and consequently, thinking Jo didn’t want to go, Aunt March offers Amy the trip to Europe that she had initially intended to offer Jo.

The very trip that Jo had been looking forward to and waiting for – the chance for adventure and fuel for her stories. She misses out due to a few untimely rash words.

In my final year of uni, an internship was on offer for an overseas newspaper. I blurted out during the interview that I wasn’t entirely sure about journalism as a career. Of course they thought I didn’t want the internship and thus didn’t offer it to me (as they explained in the rejection phone call the next day).

Jo going to Europe would have been a life changer – and I think that internship was a similar turning point for me.

I tried to set up a guy with someone very dear to me

What could be worse than feeling utterly in the way of a loved one’s happiness?

I can imagine how Jo must have felt while she thought Beth loved Laurie and Laurie loved her. It’s even worse when one’s matchmaking doesn’t work and he ends up liking you instead.

In the end Beth wasn’t heartbroken as she didn’t love Laurie (in that way) and Laurie arguably went on to love another (thankfully my situation has been similarly resolved, minus the arguable).

I once wore really tight painful heels dancing

This was the event that convinced me it is better to buy one pair of expensive comfortable practical shoes over five pairs of uncomfortable pretty shoes no matter how cheap (or pretty).

The difference between Meg’s experience and mine was that I didn’t sprain or twist my ankle due to this silliness – still, I was in so much pain that one of the guys at the formal dance offered me his shoes.

Now that I think about it, the sensible thing would have been to buy flip flops at the nearby shops – or worn flats in the first place – but I was twenty, it was midnight, and I was flattered a boy was willing to walk the city streets at night in socks to ease my suffering however self-inflicted. Vanity, vanity…

I didn’t get a photo at the time (no smartphones back then), but this comes pretty close to the shoes I remember of that night! (Again, this is courtesy of Pixabay.)

My best friend asked me to marry him

He may not have been a fresh graduate or about to embark on the Grand Tour – nevertheless, he was my closest friend. While out on a bush walk we had stopped by a lovely waterfall – and as much as I am a fan of Theodore Laurence, his proposal speech left Laurie’s in the dust.

Unlike Jo, I accepted. I love being married to him and am so glad I said yes! He is the biggest thrust behind my writing The Courtship of Jo March.

(And yes, this is the same best friend who had been subjected to The Night of the Salt and Pepper Squid Disaster…!)

Three blogs by fellow fans of Little Women

In the Bookcase

Tarissa writes book reviews and hosts the annual Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge each June. She’s currently running A Literary Christmas reading link-up – you can click on the link below to join 🙂

The Vince Review

Paula is an author and mother who reviews both fiction and non-fiction (especially classics), and has a section dedicated to book discussions such as “Book Boyfriends through the generations.” Her review of Little Women is one of my favorites.

Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 

Susan is the author of Literary portals to prayer: Louisa May Alcott illuminated by the Message and her blog reflects years of analysis, research and musings about Louisa May Alcott. (She also currently has a book on the real Beth March in the works!)

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