From Our Editors
Little Women is the heartwarming story of the March family that has thrilled generations of readers. It is the story of four sisters--Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth-- and of the courage, humor and ingenuity they display to survive poverty and the absence of their father during the Civil War.
From the Publisher
The four March sisters--Meg, Amy, Beth, and feisty Jo--share the joys and sorrows of growing up while their father is away at war. The family is poor in worldly goods, but rich in love and character.
Employee Review Cheryl from Chapters #776, Calgary, AB
FROM:
The Best Book I Ever Read
This book takes me back to when, as a young girl of twelve, I
read to my younger sister hours on end. Without the lure of
television, we were drawn into and fascinated by the lives of four
sisters, Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth, who to us led wonderful, exciting
lives while growing up in New England during the civil war. The
book had an enormous impact on our imaginations, but even more it
was a story of a daughter's dilemma; the tension between female
obligations and artistic freedom. The story touches a spot in many
women's hearts, and has been a great influence on the writings of
such noted authors as Joyce Carol Oats and
Virginia Woolf.
About the Author
Louisa May Alcott, generally considered to be a writer of
sentimental fiction for children, has received renewed critical
attention from scholars examining her adult fiction and previously
uncredited gothic thrillers. These works reveal a darker, more
complex side of this author. Alcott was born in Germantown,
Pennsylvania, in 1832. Two years later with her family she moved to
Boston and in 1840 to Concord, which was to remain her family home
for the rest of her life. Her father, Bronson Alcott, was a
transcendentalist and friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David
Thoreau. Alcott early realized that her father could not be counted
on as sole support of his family, and so she sacrificed much of her
own pleasure to earn money by sewing, teaching, and churning out
potboilers. Her reputation was established with Hospital Sketches
(1863), which was an account of her work as a volunteer nurse in
Washington, D.C. Alcott's first works were written for children,
including her best-known Little Women (1868--69) and Little Men:
Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys (1871). Moods (1864), a
"passionate conflict," was written for adults. Alcott's writing
eventually became the family's main source of income. Throughout
her life, Alcott continued to produce highly popular and idealistic
literature for children. An Old-Fashioned Girl (1870), Eight
Cousins (1875), Rose in Bloom (1876), Under the Lilacs (1878), and
Jack and Jill (1881) enjoyed wide popularity. At the same time, her
adult fiction, such as the autobiographical novel Work: A Story of
Experience (1873) and A Modern Mephistopheles (1877), a story based
on the Faust legend, shows her deeper concern with such social
issues as education, prison reform, and women's suffrage. She
realistically depicts the problems of adolescents and working
women, the difficulties of relationships between men and women, and
the values of the single woman's life.
In 1977, Showalter published A Literature of Their Own: British
Women Novelists from Bronte to Lessing. It was one of the most
influential works in feminist criticism, as it sought to establish
a distinctive tradition for women writers. In later essays,
Showalter helped to develop a clearly articulated feminist theory
with two major branches: the special study of works by women and
the study of all literature from a feminist perspective. In all of
her recent writing, Showalter has sought to illuminate a "cultural
model of female writing," distinguishable from male models and
theories. Her role as editor bringing together key contemporary
feminist criticism has been extremely influential on modern
literary study.
Trade Paperback
544 Pages, 5 x 7.75 x 1.03 IN
January 1, 1989
Penguin Books USA
English
0140390693
9780140390698