Classics remade

by Suzanne Welsh

I'm currently reading a book in the Scoundrel Of St. James series by Lorraine Heath. (Who will be joining us in December as a guest in the lair again.)

The series is an interesting concept where the street kids of the book Oliver Twist have grown up and shows us what their lives might be like now. Cool idea for a series of books. Cool for me because I loved Dickens when I was in middle and high school. Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, David Copperfield and of course The Christmas Carol. I'm secretly hoping to see Dickens make an appearance in one of these books...but then that will be up to Lorraine.

So, as I try to market this to my friends and family, I've said "You read Oliver Twist didn't you?" And to my surprise many have said, "Uh, no." So then I go for the chessy 70's musical, "You saw Oliver!, right?" Again, the perplexed look and "Uh, no." Geesh...

What did these people read in high school? How could they have missed the movie with the cute boy holding out his bowl in the orphanage and ask "More, please?" And the twinkle in the Artful Dodger's eye as he picked a pocket and scampered away?

This got me to thinking. If I had a chance to do a book about child characters from my favorite classics in literature, what book would I pick? Which characters would I choose?

How about Nancy Drew? Would she still be trying to solve crimes? Maybe she's a profiler for the FBI? Or maybe an undercover police officer? Or maybe a DA? Or maybe even a CSI?

How about the March girls from Little Women? Would you write their stories different?


Or Laura Ingalls Wilder and The Little House On The Prarie series? Would you write their stories different? Or maybe write their children's stories?

How about you? What book would you like to write a character's story in a different way or in a more adult life?