LITTLE WOMEN By Louisa May Alcott
Little Women has entered our cultural consciousness as a byword for wholesome American family values, as emblematic as a patchwork quilt or apple pie.
Rejected by some now as saccharine and sentimental or offering a restrictive view of women, it is cherished by many more who recognise the realism, humour and integrity of Alcott’s work.
It is the story of the March family. When the father goes off to serve in the Civil War as a chaplain, Marmee is left to guide and raise her four daughters: Meg, the beautiful 16-year-old who hankers after comfort; Jo, the harum-scarum writer who wishes she were a boy; Beth, an unwell 13-year-old whose unselfishness and calm makes her loved by all; Amy, a rather vain 12-year-old with artistic pretensions. Together, these girls learn how to work hard, think of others and forgive and, eventually, to leave behind personal ambition through the wise advice of their mother, prayer and a rather moralistic interpretation of Pilgrim’s Progress (the ‘little book’ they are to read every day).
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