Beth Is Dead—And Very Much Alive: A Guest Post by Katie Bernet

In this deadly spin on a classic tale, the March sisters investigate Beth’s death and begin to turn on each other in this fresh rendition of Little Women. Read on for an exclusive essay from author Katie Bernet on writing Beth Is Dead.

My first memory of “Little Women” was a major spoiler.

I was in first grade at a sleepover, and my best friend’s older sister was crying in front of the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic. When I asked her what was wrong, she said (drumroll, please…), “Beth just died.”

Years later, it seemed natural to write a retelling of the literary classic in which Beth March is found dead in chapter one. In a way, that’s how I experienced the story when I finally read it for the first time in high school.

I’ve always been fascinated (and a little freaked out) by Beth March’s infamous death. As one of three sisters, I can’t imagine anything more gut-wrenching than losing a sibling, and I never understood how Beth could calmly, almost passively, accept her own untimely end.

Reimagining “Little Women” as a mystery-thriller that revolves around Beth’s murder gave me an opportunity to explore the tension in her passing and deepen my understanding of her character.

“Beth Is Dead” takes place not in the eighteen hundreds but in modern day. As a diehard fan of Louisa May Alcott’s original, I wanted to bring the March sisters into the twenty-first century without changing their core struggles and identities. To do this, I spent a lot of time analyzing the source material, researching Alcott’s life, and considering how fans have received the story over time.

As readers, we tend to stereotype the March sisters. Meg is the pretty one, Jo is the brave one, Amy is the brat, and Beth is, well, dead. To explore this phenomenon, I layered a story within a story.

In “Beth Is Dead,” the March sisters are the unwilling subjects of their dad’s controversial bestselling novel called “Little Women.” As the girls are dragged into the spotlight, they’re each forced to confront how they’re portrayed in the novel and reflect on their own sense of self. For Beth, these questions are particularly pressing. In her dad’s story, she’s portrayed as gentle, unambitious, and passive—but is that true of her character?

I used to think so. But the process of writing “Beth Is Dead,” helped me see Beth March in a new light. In the original, she has no choice but to face her own death, and she does so with a bravery even Jo couldn’t muster.

Writing a story about Beth’s death helped me understand the quiet strength she had in life. I hope readers will enjoy getting inside her head—and have so much fun solving her murder.