Little Women

This American classic is as fresh and meaningful today as it was when it was first written in the mid-nineteenth century. Largely based on the author's own childhood, Little Women is a timeless tale of the four young March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. As different in their personalities as they are alike in their devotion to each other, the girls vow to support their beloved mother, Marmee, by behaving their best while Father is away, serving as an army chaplain in the Civil War.
Literary-minded tomboy Jo develops a fast friendship with the boy next door, and pretty Meg, the eldest, finds romance; frail and affectionate Beth fills the house with music, and Amy, the youngest, seeks beauty with all the longing of an artist's soul. Although poor in material wealth, the family possesses an abundance of love, friendship, and imaginative gifts that captivate readers time and again.

As fresh and meaningful today as it was upon its 1869 publication, this timeless tale of four sisters portrays a triumph over hardship by the power of love, friendship, and imagination.

Best known as the author of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) grew up in a community of New England transcendentalists that included Thoreau and Emerson. Because her learned but impractical father was a poor provider, she supported her family by writing stories for magazines while she was still a teenager. Alcott worked in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War as a nurse, recording her experiences in Hospital Sketches, and her many novels are particularly noteworthy for their portraits of strong, self-reliant heroines.

Preface
Part I
1. Playing Pilgrims
2. A Merry Christmas
3. The Laurence Boy
4. Burdens
5. Being Neighborly
6. Beth Finds the Palace Beautiful
7. Amy’s Valley of Humiliation
8. Jo Meets Apollyon
9. Meg Goes to Vanity Fair
10. The P. C. and P. O
11. Experiments
12. Camp Laurence
13. Castles in the Air
14. Secrets
15. A Telegram
16. Letters
17. Little Faithful
18. Dark Days
19. Amy’s Will
20. Confidential
21. Laurie Makes Mischief, and Jo Makes Peace
22. Pleasant Meadows
23. Aunt March Settles the Question
Part II
24. Gossip
25. The First Wedding
26. Artistic Attempts
27. Literary Lessons
28. Domestic Experiences
29. Calls
30. Consequences
31. Our Foreign Correspondent
32. Tender Troubles
33. Jo’s Journal
34. A Friend
35. Heartache
36. Beth’s Secret
37. New Impressions
38. On the Shelf
39. Lazy Laurence
40. The Valley of the Shadow
41. Learning to Forget
42. All Alone
43. Surprises
44. My Lord and Lady
45. Daisy and Demi
46. Under the Umbrella
47. Harvest Time