The most recent adaptation of Little Women was a masterpiece and took the world by storm. It was filled with feminist messages, heartwarming sister relationships, and romance to make you swoon. The cast had Saiorse Ronan (The Lovely Bones), Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Florence Pugh (Midsommar), Eliza Scanlen (Sharp Objects), Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name), Laura Dern (Big Little Lies,) and Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia). But what should you pick up to read or watch next? Well I have broken down the movie into sections with some recommendations for you all!
If you loved the feminism in Little Women a.k.a the scene where Jo talks to her mum about how women are more than just their looks or when Amy tells Laurie what it means to be a woman in the 1800s. I would recommend you watch the Netflix original series, Anne with an E.
Anne with an E is about Anne Shirley, an orphan girl who comes to live with an elderly brother and sister in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. Anne has a big imagination and an even bigger heart. This show is beautifully shot, has incredible characters, and so many feminist moments. The most feminist-centred episode would have to be Season 3, Episode 7, so if you’re just going to watch one episode, watch that one. Anne is very similar to Jo and it is also set in the past (1907), so this a perfect watch if you loved Little Women. This TV show is based on the books Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, but the TV show did something very similar to Greta Gerwig’s adaptation and has taken a more modern twist and opened a discussion about relevant issues today.
Things A Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls is also a great read if you want to read something with a feminist undertone. This book is set in the early 1900s during the suffragette movement in England. Things A Bright Girl Can Do is filled with badass women and is so insightful to a movement we often forget about.
If you loved the time period of when Little Women is set I would recommend either watching or reading Little House on the Prairie. This story takes place in Minnesota in the 1870s-90s. The costumes in the show are great (not quite as extravagant as in Little Women), it shows how people survived and how hard people had to work. This is based on the real life of Laura Ingalls-Wilder and her family settling into Walnut Grove. Laura is feisty, brave, and a little reckless. This show/book is filled with heartwarming family moments and a great insight into what it was like to live in this time period.
If you loved the romance in Little Women I would recommend watching Poldark. This show is set in Cornwall, England in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It has a strong female lead and a romance that will have you swooning, the accents are also amazing. If you’ve watched The Hobbit, Aiden Turner is the dashing love interest in this.
Family plays a very important role in Little Women and if you adored that aspect of this movie you should definitely go and check out One Day At A Time. Although this show is set in present day America, it has a great family dynamic and discusses so many important issues.
Little Women is all about the March sisters and if you loved any scene with all four sisters together you should pick up The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. This book might just be the modern Little Women and it follows four sisters on summer holiday in Massachusetts. This book is targeted at younger readers but can be read at any age.
Greta Gerwig is one talented director, if you adore this woman (who doesn’t?) you should check out her other very successful film Lady Bird. You may see some familiar faces in this film as well (Saiorse and Timothée just seem to have the best chemistry). This film is about a teen girl in her senior year of high school and how she navigates her relationship with her mum, friends and boys
In case you’ve already watched/read all of these you can always just rewatch the movie, that never hurts.
