Actress Laura Dern is hoping that a 150-year-old novel will become the hottest book of the winter.
Dern will voice novelist Louisa May Alcott in an audio dramatization of Little Women, Entertainment Weekly reports. The recording is being produced by Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook retailer.
The dramatization is tied to the upcoming release of Greta Gerwig’s film adaptation of the novel, which also stars Dern, along with Saoirse Ronan, Meryl Streep, Emma Watson, and Timothée Chalamet.
In a statement, Dern said the project has turned her into an “Audible addict.”
“I’ve fallen in love with audio—it’s a completely different acting experience,” she said. “Audio is fantastic in its ability to let stories resonate through the voice alone. It’s so private and intimate, you share the humor, irreverence and bravery of the writing with the listener in such a personal way.”
Little Women, first published in 1868 and 1869, is one of the most beloved American novels of the 19th century. The book tells the story of the four March sisters who grow up poor in Massachusetts.
The novel has been adapted for the screen several times, perhaps most notably in 1949 by Mervyn LeRoy and in 1994 by Gillian Armstrong. Gerwig’s adaptation has drawn early praise from critics.
The film version of Little Women is set to hit movie theaters on Dec. 25, with Dern’s audio adaptation slated for release on Dec. 23.
Michael Schaub is an Austin, Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
