Little Women - Part 1

by Louisa May Alcott

280 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2023

About the author

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May Alcott and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, including Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A.M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.
Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still popular today among both children and adults. It has been adapted for stage plays, films, and television many times.
Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She also spent her life active in reform movements such as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, just two days after her father's death.

Reviews

[Tom Brazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I didn’t realise I’d only bought the first half, and I still have Good Wives to go.

While I found this book quite warm and quaint, I also found it really slow and laborious to read at points. There were through lines in the March girl’s character development (which were quite spoon-fed to the reader), but I felt like most chapters were more or less self-contained (girls/Laurie get into trouble > Marmee tells them how they should act/that she is proud of them), which made it hard for me to get a flow on while reading.

This changes in the last 1/3 of the book when Marmee leaves to look after Father, and the girls have to deal with everything + Beth’s sickness of their own, which I found much more engaging

Anyways, Jo and Laurie carry this book. Having watched the movie, I’m much more excited for the 2nd act.

[Belita Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

i wish i had a sister. i love them all so much.

[ꜱʏᴅ:) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
i have the whole book but this is taking me so long to read (because of me not the book) that im just going to call it at part one

this was such a beautiful story that made me want to cry and leap for joy all at different points

the wholesome bond of the sisters completes me.

one of the typa books that i heavily annotate, very beautiful

i love familial love

i love you jo
i love you beth

[Malina]

4.5**
Didn't realize I only had part one haha-just got a copy of the whole thing so will be reading the full thing this year!