Little Women

Written by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women is a wonderful story about a poor family of girls making the journey from little girls to little women.

Sisters, Margaret, Jo, Beth, and Amy live with their mother struggling to make ends meet in a society where the men are the primary breadwinners. Their father is away and the girls are doing the best they can with what they have to make life as comfortable for them and their mother as they possibly can. Throughout the story, the girls take on new responsibilities and new relationships, and by so doing, make the journey from little girls to young women.

A story about growth, love, family, and support for one another, Little Women is a wonderful read for the sad romantics who love nothing more than to curl up in a quiet sun-drenched corner and float away. The writing sometimes makes a transition from the third to second person so that the reader is personally identified and talked to.

As young readers like to know “how people look”, we will take this moment to give them a little sketch of the four sisters who sat knitting away in the twilight, while the December snow fell quietly without, and the fire crackled cheerily within.

As Little Women is an older story, the writing can sometimes be a little tricky to understand. Admittedly easier to follow than Jane Austen or Emily Bronte though it is written in much the same era. Although sporting a sophisticated and elegant tone, Alcott never fails to convey the emotion that the story holds. The anticipation when one of the girls falls ill, the frustration and anger that the girls feel when they bicker, the warmth and excitement when the girls are asked to dance by men, and the melancholy joy that the mother feels when she looks at her four girls and sees four women. The entire story is very simple, but very emotive and heartwarming. I was intrigued right from page one.

Having been released time and time again in a new cover with new notes on the author and having been made into many a film, Little Women is a classic and beautiful story that fills you with a sense of peace and contentedness and causes you to sigh warmly all the way through.