Little Women
SynopsisPlot
Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Alcott wrote the books rapidly over several months at the request of her publisher. The novel follows the lives of four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March—detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood, and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters.Little Women was an immediate commercial and critical success, and readers demanded to know more about the characters. Alcott quickly completed a second volume, entitled Good Wives. It was also successful. The two volumes were issued in 1880 in a single work entitled Little Women.
Story
About this book
Little Women follows the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as they grow from childhood into young adulthood in a household shaped by their mother's steady presence and their father's absence during the American Civil War. The story is loosely based on Louisa May Alcott and her three sisters, and Alcott wrote it rapidly over several months at the request of her publisher. It was originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869, before being combined into a single edition in 1880.
Each sister carries a distinct temperament. Meg, the eldest, is drawn to domestic life and social standing. Jo is restless, ambitious, and devoted to writing. Beth is quiet and musical, content within the family circle. Amy, the youngest, pursues art and carries a sharp awareness of the world beyond home. Their differences create friction and closeness in equal measure, and much of the novel's structure comes from watching how each one navigates expectations, money, illness, and affection.
The book was an immediate commercial and critical success when it first appeared. Reader demand led Alcott to complete a second volume, originally titled Good Wives, which continued the sisters' stories into early adulthood and marriage.
