By Kelly O'Connor McNees
352 pages; Amy Einhorn Books

Anyone growing tired of the Jane Austen re-dos (and who isn't, at least just a little?) might take succor in this novel devised from the Little Women author's journals. It mixes truth (Alcott's lifelong fascination with Walt Whitman) with imagination (a fictional suitor) to produce a plausible love story about one of the most fiercely independent women of any time.

— Sara Nelson