Interview with Katie Bernet, Author of Beth Is Dead

Katie Bernet is an author living in Dallas, Texas. She’s an award-winning creative director, a long-standing member of the DFW Writer’s Workshop, and the director of the 2025 DFW Writer’s Conference. The oldest of three sisters, she’s a diehard fan of Little Women.

Beth Is Dead  reimagines Little Women by turning the tragic death of Beth into a murder, and transforming the March sisters into suspects. What made you decide to take such a bold, dark turn on a beloved classic – and what challenges or opportunities came with that choice?

Before I ever read “Little Women,” I knew that Beth March was going to die. I first learned about the literary classic in elementary school during a sleepover at my best friend’s house. Her older sister was crying in front of the TV, and when I asked what was wrong, she said, “Beth just died.” Years later, it seemed natural for me to reimagine the story as a mystery-thriller in which Beth is found dead in chapter one. If I’m honest, I think I was a little haunted by Beth’s death. It bothered me that seemed to accept it so willingly. Writing “Beth Is Dead” gave me a chance to unpack those feelings and develop a new appreciation for Beth’s strength and calm. It was challenging to balance the darkness with light. As I was drafting, I kept reminding myself that joy can exist alongside grief.

Your novel alternates perspectives between all the surviving sisters – Meg, Jo, Amy – and even Beth herself in flashbacks. How did you approach giving each sister a distinct, believable voice while weaving together a unified mystery?

Well, I’m lucky—because Louisa May Alcott created four distinct, memorable characters, and since I wrote a retelling, I started from that incredible base. As I modernized the March sisters, I wanted to maintain their differences but also show their similarities. I’m one of three sisters, and my sisters are a part of me. Every time I make a decision, I’m considering what my sisters would do and how they would advise me. I wanted to dial this up in the March sisters. To show that they’re always in harmony even when they’re at odds. 

In Beth Is Dead, ambition, jealousy, family legacy, and secrets all play major roles. How do you balance those themes of sisterhood, trust and betrayal – and what do you hope readers take away about family dynamics and moral ambiguity?

In my experience, sisterly love is so unconditional that sisters can literally accuse each other of murder one second and support each other the next. The March sisters have this kind of unbreakable bond. They aren’t afraid to express their suspicions and anger, because they know that they’ll stand by each other at the end of the day. I hope readers enjoy spending time with the March sisters in the twenty-first century and feel that the bonds of sisterhood can withstand anything—even a murder investigation.

Through rooted in a classic story, your version places the Marches in a modern, more suspense-thriller context. What aspects of contemporary life and youth culture did you want to explore through this retelling, and how do they shape the novel’s tone and stakes?

Internet culture plays a huge role in “Beth Is Dead.” Specifically, influencer culture, cancel culture, and fandom culture. In the story, the March sisters are the unwilling subjects of their dad’s controversial bestselling novel called “Little Women.” They’re dragged into the spotlight and forced to process how they’re portrayed in the novel. This shapes the tone and stakes of “Beth Is Dead,” because each of the March sisters struggle with the difference between how the world sees them and how they see themselves.

Beth Is Dead  is your debut novel. What have been the biggest surprises or lesson learning how to write and publish, especially when reworking such a well-known literary work, and how did that shape your writing process?

It took me ten years and six manuscripts to get published, so it’s been a long and winding journey—but I’m actually glad that it took me so long, because over the last decade, I learned so much and gained the confidence to write a retelling. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t write a book alone. It’s so important to have a writing community so that you can get feedback on your work, ask questions, and learn from other people’s mistakes and triumphs.  

The story mixes mystery, suspense, romance, and even psychological tension. How did you decide which elements to emphasize, and was there anything you were careful not to overdo to keep the balance between homage to the original and your own vision?

First and foremost, I wanted to write a compelling mystery which is all about seeding and satisfying curiosity. I brought other elements like romance into the story to serve the mystery by raising or answering questions. For example, is Meg’s love for John Brooke so blinding that she’s unable to see his guilt? It took some time to find the balance between dark and light within each character. I wanted to give them each a deeply believable motive while maintaining the goodness they hold in the original. 

INTERVIEW: YA SH3LF

More about Beth Is Dead here.