He punishes Amy for bringing pickled limes to school by striking her palm and making her stand on a platform in front of the class. I also doubt if any young matron ever began life with so rich a supply of dusters, holders, and piece bags; for Beth made enough to last till the silver wedding came around, and invented three different kinds of dishcloths for the express service of the bridal china. Nice and clean pages with small ink mark and slightly tainted on the outer edges,the first 5 pages of the book are slightly detached,a couple of creases and light shelf wear on the edges of the pages.

His last whim had been to bring with him, on his weekly visits, some new, useful, and ingenious article for the young housekeeper. So, it was much to my surprise that a few chapters in, I found myself rather enchanted, and subsequently made my way through the second book Good Wives as well within a space of a week. Meg and John begin humbly, but I have a feeling that there will be quite as much happiness in the little house as in the big one.I won’t be reading them for a while though as I don’t have Little Men, just Jo’s Boys, and I don’t want to read Jo’s Boys out of sequence. Lonely in his mansion, and often at odds with his high-spirited grandson, he finds comfort in becoming a benefactor to the Marches.

For a classic, Little Women reads on the younger side of the spectrum, and I can imagine many parents reading this to their children, in the way that people used to read fairytales. I am looking forward to reading Little Men and Jo’s Boys – just have to track down a copy of Little Men then off I will go!citation needed] This split of the two volumes also shows at Goodreads, which refers to the books as the Little Women series, including Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women and Good Wives are a thinly disguised Pilgrim’s Progress, the March girl’s favourite book, and I can understand that the didactic and religious overtones can be a little too much for the modern reader.

I didn’t quite feel as connected to the sisters as I did during part 1, which I believe may be due to the fact they are not living in the same place and everything can feel a little jarring between sections. Little Women also influenced contemporary European immigrants to the United States who wanted to assimilate into middle-class culture. A lcott’s family were part of the transcendentalist movement, which theorizes that people are naturally good but are corrupted by society and it’s vices. When I am not reading Little Women, I always think how nauseatingly virtuous Beth is, but when I reread, I cry and cry every time.So true about Jo and the Professor – there’s something not quite right about Laurie and Amy but Jo and the Professor are so adorable together! Not surprisingly due to the name of the book, this part mainly focuses on the sisters settling down into relationships and moving out of the family home. Another reason for the rejection is that the love that Laurie has for Jo is more of a sisterly love, rather than romantic love, the difference between which he was unable to understand because he was "just a boy", as said by Alcott in the book. I’m nearly half way through and am enjoying so far although I agree with you about it being preachy!

Alcott quickly completed a second volume (titled Good Wives in the United Kingdom, though the name originated with the publisher and not Alcott).

Joy Kasson wrote, "Alcott chronicled the coming of age of young girls, their struggles with issues such as selfishness and generosity, the nature of individual integrity, and, above all, the question of their place in the world around them. I still very much enjoyed this part of the story, and I know the story as a whole will be with me forever. She is best known for Little Women (1868), which is loosely based on her own life and proved to be one of the most popular children’s books ever written. According to literary critic Sarah Elbert, when using the term "little women" Alcott was drawing on its Dickensian meaning; it represented the period in a young woman's life where childhood and elder childhood are "overlapping" with young womanhood. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives.