Little Women

Description

Little Women is one of the best loved books of all time. Lovely Meg, talented Jo, frail Beth, spoiled Amy- these are hard lessons of poverty and of growing up in New England during the Civil War. Through their dreams, plays, pranks, letters, illnesses, and courtships, women of all ages have become a part of this remarkable family and have felt the deep sadness when Meg leaves the circle of sisters to be married at the end of Part I. Part II, chronicles Meg's joys and mishaps as a young wife and mother, Jo's struggle to become a writer, Beth's tragedy, and Amy's artistic pursuits and unexpected romance. Based on Louise May Alcott's childhood, this lively portrait of nineteenth- century family life possesses a lasting vitality that has endeared it to generations of readers.

Louisa May Alcott (29 November 1832 - 6 March 1888) was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. When she was almost two years old, Louisa's family moved to Massachusetts, the state where she lived for much of her life. The family moved many times over the years, usually back and forth between Boston and Concord (Mass.). Some notable places Louisa lived were 'Fruitlands' in Harvard, Massachusetts; 'Hillside' in Concord; and 'Orchard House,' also in Concord. 'Fruitlands' was the site of her father's attempt at Utopian living, which she wrote about in Transcendental Wild Oats, thirty years later in 1873. Louisa's childhood at 'Hillside' (later renamed 'Wayside' by Nathaniel Hawthorne, when he lived there) served as the basis for the action in her most popular novel, Little Women, which she wrote as an adult living in 'Orchard House.' Interestingly, these latter two houses were located next door to each other, with a walking path through the woods between. They are both still standing and open for tours in Concord. Louisa May Alcott's father, Amos Bronson Alcott, was an important - though controversial - man in his times and in his community. He is perhaps best known for being a philosopher and an education reformer, but he was also a leader in the Transcendentalist movement as well as a teacher, school superintendent, and an author. He established both the Temple School, in Bosto

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