Louisa May Alcott, famous authoress of the March Family Saga (Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys) inserted many hidden clues within this trilogy; and now it is Meg March Brooke, recently widowed and increasingly jealous of Sister Jo March Bhaer, who wields the pen. Familiar characters (including Cousin Florence Carrol of the infamous sky-rocket dress, who once toured Europe with "Little Women" Amy March) mingle with new additions (such as Freedwoman Mrs. Tanny and young daughter Olivia, whose dark, tempestuous face seems a moon in eclipse); while the expected settings of the shabby March dwelling and the white-pillared Lawrence mansion across the hedge are a comfortable contrast to the rickety Orchard Theater and also Jasper DeLacy's Penny Arcade. Years of research (Victorian customs, clothing, and verbiage; plus the background of the Alcott/March Family both fact & fiction) add to the story of which this book is volume one of a two-volume novel. Follow the Little Women, now Meg, Jo, Flo, and Amy -- for Beth is now a guardian spirit who watches from afar -- as the March Family comes to the fore and the Bhaers' Plumfield School recedes into the background, in a scenario both joyful and sorrowful, and ever-more mature.