Synopsis
A classic with girls everywhere, LITTLE WOMEN tells the gripping story of the four March sisters--Jo, Amy, Beth, and Meg--as they struggle to grow up in an impoverished New England family during the Civil War. In this old-fashioned coming-of-age novel based on Louisa May Alcott's own interesting childhood, each sister, though uniquely talented, has to overcome her own unfortunate qualities, which include bluntness, vanity, shyness, and self-indulgence. Book One focuses on the pleasures and pains of life with their loving and wise mother, Marmee, while their father, a minister, serves in the war. Book Two takes place after the war has ended and the father has returned to the family. Jo's intense determination to become a professional writer, Beth's loving heart, Meg's work as a governess, and Amy's burgeoning artistic talent are each followed with care as the sisters
encounter love, marriage, and an unexpected tragedy.
An instant classic with girls everywhere, LITTLE WOMEN tells the gripping story of the four March sisters--Jo, Amy, Beth, and Meg--as they struggle to grow up in New England, amidst poverty during the Civil War. Based on the author's own interesting childhood, the novel was first printed in two volumes, as initially, Louisa May Alcott didn't expect the story to be popular. An old-fashioned coming-of-age novel, each sister, though uniquely talented, has to overcome her own unfortunate qualities, including bluntness, vanity, shyness, and being spoiled. "Book One" focuses on the pleasures and pains of life with their loving and wise mother, Marmee, while their father, a minister, serves in the war. "Book Two" takes place after the war has ended and the father has returned to the family. Jo's intense determination to become a professional writer, Beth's charity-loving heart, Meg's work as a governess, and Amy's burgeoning artistic talent are each followed with care as the sisters cope with love, marriage, an unexpected tragedy, and growing up.
This story of the four March sisters--Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy--is based on the author's own childhood. The novel is divided into two parts. During Book One, the women of the family must carry on while Mr. March is off fighting in the Civil War. In Book Two, which takes place after the war has ended, the sisters deal with love, marriage, an unexpected tragedy, and Jo's determination to become a professional writer.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2000-06-01 | | Series: | Aladdin Classics |
| Size | | Length: | 761 pages | | Height: | 7.8 in | | Width: | 5.3 in | | Thickness: | 2.0 in | | Weight: | 18.4 oz |
Publisher's Note
Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England.
Industry Reviews
"There was one book in which I believed I had caught a glimpse of my future self: 'Little Women', by Louisa May Alcott....I identified passionately with Jo, the intellectual....I shared her horror of housekeeping and her love of books."
"Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter" - Simone de Beauvoir
"Jo should have remained a literary spinster, but so many enthusiastic young ladies wrote to me clamorously demanding that she should marry Laurie, or somebody, that I didn't dare refuse and out of perversity went and made a funny match for her."
letters - Louisa May Alcott
"...'Little Women' represents Alcott's belief that the fullest art came from women who had fulfilled both their sexual and their intellectual needs....Jo lives and writes, not as the unattainable genius, Shakespeare's sister, but as a sister of our own."
introduction - Elaine Showalter
"In 'Little Women' [Alcott] gives us Jo, her best creation, but to allow Jo to live the adult reader must forgive Alcott everything else in the 502 soppy and moralizing pages."
Salon - Jane Hamilton (12/09/1997)
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