Little Women

This popular coming-of-age novel by American novelist Louisa May Alcott was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Little Women follows the interlocking lives of the four March sisters, detailing their adventures and chronicling their passage to womanhood. This book is considered to be autobiographical or semi-autobiographical in nature, with Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy based on the lives of the author and her three sisters. Little Women is set at the intersection of home, work, and love. Traditional Meg tutors a nearby family, tomboy Jo assists her great aunt, shy Beth stays home to do the housework, and Amy attends school with drive and ambition. The book details the daily lives of the sisters as they strive to help their family amidst a backdrop of civil war and social strife. Little Women was published before its time, anticipating realism by at least 20 years. The strong female characters and domestic focus of this book presented a new model for womanhood that grew into an entirely new publishing category. As a proud and sometimes surprising "story for girls," Little Women is a work of sisterhood and family that deals with the conflict between personal ambition and family responsibilities. Beyond simple domestic tales, Little Women is about sisterhood, family, and unconditional love in a changing world.