Little Women

or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy

by Louisa May Alcott

Hardcover, 251 pages

Published Feb. 24, 1936 by The Goldsmith Publishing Company.

OCLC Number:: 750731859

(9 reviews)

Little Women or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Written and published in two parts in 1868 and 1869, the novel follows the lives of four sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March — and is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences with her three sisters. The first part of the book was an immediate commercial and critical success and prompted the composition of the book's second part, also a huge success. Both parts were first published as a single volume in 1880. The book is an unquestioned American classic.

119 editions

radio-appears reviewed Little Women (Little Women, #1) by Louisa May Alcott (Little Women, #1)

Didn't hit for me

No rating

So. I didn't like this book very much, but this is a bit of an annoying review to write. The reasons why I don't like this book are not really something I can fault the author, as they're pretty much to be expected for a book written in this time period.

Shortly put, like many older examples of children's lit, I find Little Women to be overly didactic and twee, with the added difficulty of disagreeing with some of the moral lessons it tries to teach.

I can see the value it must have had in its time, as well as to some readers, in portraying girls with interesting inner lives and conflicts, who did not always entirely fit the gender norms. It was, in that sense, an interesting bit of insight in the time period. But as an adult modern reader I couldn't really connect with it.

Derek Caelin reviewed Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Little Women, #1)

Review of 'Little Women (Little Women, #1)' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

After a family history with this book I had to read it. It was great, and long,.but I loved the sense of the passage of time, and the pain and happiness of life.