My Q&A with Bernet:
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?Visit Katie Bernet's website.
Beth Is Dead kinda says it all, and I like to joke that Jo March came up with the title. Beth Is Dead is a modern reimagining of Little Women as a mystery-thriller in which Beth March is murdered in chapter one. In the story, Jo has a book deal for which she needs an idea, and as she toys with writing about her sister’s death, she lands on a blunt, chilling title, Beth Is Dead. Before writing this scene, I had a bland working title for the novel as a whole, but when Jo had this idea on the page, I knew it needed to be on the cover.
What's in a name?
Because I wrote a reimagining of Louisa May Alcott’s story, I didn’t select the names for my characters, but I’m really fascinated by the name Beth and how it came to be a part of Little Women. Alcott’s characters were inspired by herself and her own sisters, but she renamed each of them except for Beth. Louisa became Jo, Anna became Meg, May became Amy—but Elizabeth remained Elizabeth. I think this demonstrates Elizabeth Alcott’s incredible impact on her sister. Alcott did however change Elizabeth’s nickname from Lizzie to Beth, and I suspect this had something to do with grief. Like her literary counterpart, the real Lizzie Alcott died of illness, but unlike Beth March, she didn’t accept her fate. I’ve read accounts suggesting that Lizzie raged against her untimely end. I imagine this must have been painful to witness, and I picture Louisa May Alcott choosing a softer nickname as she softened her sister into the angelic character we all know today. Coincidentally, my middle name is Elizabeth, and I hope readers will enjoy meeting my modern-day version of Beth March in Beth Is Dead.
How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?
My teenage self would probably be surprised that I wrote a mystery-thriller. Back then, I obsessed over literary fiction. But she wouldn’t be surprised that I reimagined Little Women,because I’m the eldest of three sisters, and sisterhood has always been one of the most important aspects of my life.
Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?
It’s funny—beginnings and endings aren’t the problem for me. The middle is the hard part. When I start writing a book, I almost always know where I want to open and where I’m going to close. Sometimes it changes, but with Beth Is Dead my first few and last few chapters had the least amount of revision.
Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?
I see pieces of myself in all of the March sisters, especially my own modern versions of them. As a writer, I relate most to Jo, but I aspire to be more like Beth. I don’t think she gets enough credit. In the original, she faces true horror—her own untimely death—and she still puts others before herself. I think she’s remarkable.
What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?
Beth Is Dead unfolds across two timelines, before and after Beth’s murder, and in crafting that back-and-forth, I took a lot of inspiration from The Haunting of Hill House. The TV adaptation of that story is one of the most brilliant examples of non-linear storytelling I’ve ever seen. I also drew inspiration from cancel culture. In the story, the March sisters are dragged into the spotlight when their dad writes a controversial bestselling novel about his own daughters and is subsequently cancelled. I was fueled by the tension in cancel culture—the tug between justice and harm. And of course, I drew inspiration from my own sisters especially for the more tender moments of the story.
The Page 69 Test: Beth Is Dead.
My Book, The Movie: Beth Is Dead.
Writers Read: Katie Bernet.
--Marshal Zeringue