Little Women, an autobiographical novel by the American author Louisa May Alcott, has become one of the most popular works in American children’s literature. The novel was published in two parts in 1868 and 1869, and began a tradition of family stories directed at young readers.
Alcott set Little Women during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The novel tells about the March family, especially the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. The full title of the novel is Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.
The March girls live in a small Massachusetts town with their mother, Marmee, while their father is away serving as a chaplain for the Union forces in the war. The central character is Jo March, a tomboy who wants to become a writer. The narrative follows the girls from their teen years into adulthood, describing their many adventures and their struggle to increase the family’s small income.
During the story, the quiet and sympathetic Beth dies from scarlet fever, and the other three sisters marry. Amy marries Theodore Laurence, nicknamed “Laurie,” the lonely grandson of a wealthy next-door neighbor, after Jo rejects Laurie’s proposal of marriage. Meg marries John Brooke, Laurie’s tutor, and Jo marries Professor Friedrich “Fritz” Bhaer, a middle-aged German.
Alcott wrote two sequels to Little Women. In Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo’s Boys (1871), Jo and her husband open a school for boys in their home. Meg also appears in the book with her twin daughters. A second sequel is Jo’s Boys, and How They Turned Out (1886).
