But Laurie has romance on his mind, and despite her growing feelings, Jo's desire to remain independent leads her to turn down his heartfelt marriage proposal and sends the poor boy off to college heartbroken. When Laurie returns to Concord with a sophisticated new girlfriend, will Jo finally communicate her true heart's desire or lose the love of her life forever?

Mel: Jo & Laurie is a retelling of Little Women that imagines Jo herself wrote the book and is now writing the sequel. Jo March is as headstrong as ever, and now dealing with writerly success and sequel pressure, with her steadfast friend Theodore Laurence at her side. Her sisters – sweet Meg and ambitious Amy, are also in the book. 

Margie: To describe Jo’s writerly struggles, we took our inspiration from Louisa May Alcott, who became an instant literary phenomenon upon publication of the book, and then was immediately enlisted to write another, to finish the stories she had begun. As writers, we know how hard that moment can be--especially when you are writing the story of your family, as both Alcott and Jo were. We also know how hard it can be to juggle writing a love story with living one, and we wanted to capture that between Jo and Laurie as well. 

Mel: Jo has always been our favourite character in Little Women, and in Jo & Laurie, she is the focus of the story. When we were little girls, we looked up to Jo as someone who embodied our desire to be writers. She was our first heroine. And Laurie was our first boyfriend and we were always aghast that she does not marry him. It never felt “right” to us, and when we had the idea of the book that was our first ‘lightbulb’ moment – we’ll rewrite Little Women to give the 12-year-old girls we still are the ending that we’ve always wanted. 

Margie: Every woman writer who read that book identified with Jo. After reading Little Women, I went around telling people my future plans were to steal away to a garret in Sardinia and write while staring out the window at the azure sea. I think those were the exact words, ha! But Jo’s garret was what I aspired to, always.

Mel: I had been toying with a Little Women retelling for years, and had tried several different versions but only when I spoke to Margie did we figure out the right “take.” The book is about writing, writing careers, and women and writing and romance! 

Margie: I think our own friendship is so sisterly it sort of felt like we lived in Orchard House, the Alcott family home, as we wrote it. We were honorary March sisters!

Mel: “Lucky” by Jason Mraz, “Lucky I’m in love with my best friend…lucky to have been where I have been, lucky to be coming home again.”

Margie: Actually, I’d tell everyone to listen to the soundtrack from the latest Little Women movie; I loved it.

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

Mel: I’d say we’d just re-do Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and have Saoirse and Timothee again for sure!

Margie: I loved Katherine Hepburn, Maya Hawke and Saoirse Ronan as Jo -- but my all-time fave Laurie was Christian Bale. I know, it’s my controversial hot take.

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

Mel: Cherry cordials? I’ve never had one but they always sound delicious in the Little Women books.

Margie: A first champagne! Like Meg when she misbehaves at Sally Gardiner’s; we feature an entire tower of champagne in our New York City chapters.

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish JO & LAURIE?

Mel: Re-read the original of course, and the sequels! Little Men and Jo’s Boys.

Margie: Agreed. We wrote Jo & Laurie out of immense affection for the original, so be sure to re-read those!

What’s next for you?

Mel: My middle grade fairy tale series NEVER AFTER, the first book out in December.

Margie: A whole bunch of secret Marvel projects that have yet to be announced. Stay tuned!

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