On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve talks to Bethany C. Morrow all about her new book, So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix, which is described as “Four young Black sisters come of age during the American Civil War in this warm and powerful ode to Black joy and sisterhood, a YA remix of the classic novel Little Women.”
Here’s the summary…
1863. As the American Civil War rages on, the Freedmen’s Colony of Roanoke Island is blossoming, a haven for the recently emancipated. Black folk have begun building a community of their own, a refuge from the shadow of the “old life.” It is where the March family has finally been able to safely put down roots with four young daughters:
Meg, a teacher who longs to find love and start a family of her own.
Jo, a writer whose words are too powerful to be contained.
Beth, a talented seamstress searching for a higher purpose.
Amy, a dancer eager to explore life outside her family’s home.
As the four March sisters come into their own as independent young women, they will face first love, health struggles, heartbreak, and new horizons. But they will face it all together.
Retelling classics that ignore certain aspects of American history would be one thing, remixing them in an honest and forthright way is something else entirely. Bethany takes this head on in So Many Beginnings delivering not only an incredible character study, but a historically accurate one about a Black family who happens to be called March living on Roanoke Island in 1863. Expecting nothing less from her, this beautifully written and highly entertaining remix is the definitive version of Little Women for me now, there’s no question about it.
Steve and Bethany talk about a variety of things including race relations past and present, Patricia C. Click’s Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony 1862-1867, some process, So Many Beginnings of course, and how the minute you make the March sisters Black during that time and in that part of country, it changes everything.
So Many Beginnings is out now, click HERE to order a copy today, I highly suggest that you do.
To purchase a copy of Patricia C. Click’s Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony, 1862-1867, click HERE.
Cover photo: Jonathan Barkat
Cover design: Rich Deas
Models: Portland Thomas, Nadia Waters, Kenisha Robinson, & Saada Wing
And don’t forget, September is National Hispanic Heritage Month, click HERE to see a list of Hispanic/Latine authors you can support!
About the Author:
Bethany C Morrow is an Indie Bestselling author who writes for adult and young adult audiences, in genres ranging from speculative literary to contemporary fantasy to historical. She is author of the novels MEM and A SONG BELOW WATER, which is an Audie, Ignyte and Locus finalist. She is editor/contributor to the young adult anthology TAKE THE MIC, the 2020 ILA Social Justice in Literature award winner. Her work has been chosen as Indies Introduce and Indie Next picks, and featured in The LA Times, Forbes, Bustle, Buzzfeed, and more. She is included on USA TODAY’s list of 100 Black novelists and fiction writers you should read.
