Little Women

Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy are four sisters trying to support the family and keep their spirit up while their father is at war. Each one of them has a unique vivid personality which helps them overcome the hardships of poverty. Showing the transition from childhood to womanhood, "Little Women" together with its sequels: "Good Wives", "Little Men", and "Jo's Boys", has been one of the most widely read novels in the world. It has inspired numerous adaptations including a 2019 movie starring Emma Watson with six Academy Award nominations.

Based loosely on Louisa May Alcott's own upbringing, Little Women follows the lives of four sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March. Each girl has a vision of what their ideal future will bring, though ultimately experiencing, as most young do, something completely different. Little Women, originally written as two volumes, was a great commercial success and is considered one of the most widely read American novels.

Adored across the world by girls and women of all ages, never once having gone out of print, Little Women is as fresh today as it was when it was first published to instant enormous success. Meet Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy: four sisters growing up in America just after the Civil War. Each has their own dreams, each has their own destiny. Hugely charming and big-hearted, it is read by the inimitable, Academy-award winning Glenda Jackson.

Little Women (Part 1): Four sisters and their mother, whom they call Marmee, live in a new neighborhood (loosely based on Concord) in Massachusetts in genteel poverty. Having lost all his money, their father is serving as a chaplain for the Union Army in the American Civil War, far from home. The mother and daughters face their first Christmas without him. When Marmee asks her daughters to give their Christmas breakfast away to an impoverished family, the girls and their mother venture into town laden with baskets to feed the hungry children. When they return, they discover their wealthy, elderly neighbor Mr. Laurence has sent over a decadent surprise dinner to make up for their breakfast. The two families become acquainted following these acts of kindness. Little Women is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters-Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy-and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. Loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters, it is classified as an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel.

The March sisters are among the most beloved characters in children's literature, and Good Wives. As Meg marries John, Jo is faced with a romantic dilemma of her own, Amy travels to Europe, and Beth becomes increasingly ill. In this sensitive and lively novel, Alcott - 'the Thackeray, the Trollope, of the nursery and the schoolroom', as Henry James called her - is on sparkling form.

This second story about the March family, Good Wives, picks up three years after the close of Little Women. The March girls and their friend Laurie are young adults with only their futures to find. Along the way they all face painful trials, but each of the girls finds happiness, although not always in the way expected.

Good Wives continues the story of the March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, as they approach womanhood. Meg longs to begin her new life with John Brook, though they can never be rich; Jo returns to devote herself to literature, and to Beth, whose illness has left her weak but whose serenity shines through the household; and Amy has gone to Aunt March, bribed with the offer of drawing lessons. Laurie remains irrepressible, with his high spirits and sense of fun, though his pursuit of Jo's affections seems unlikely to succeed.

Following her critically acclaimed narration of Little Women Part One, narrator Anne Undeland picks up the story from where it left off with Good Wives aka Little Women Part Two. Three years after the curtain closed on the first book, we're brought back into the March family fold, opening with Meg's wedding. No longer little girls dreaming of "castles in the air," Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are now young women, each with her own share of joy and heartache, and each with her own path to forge. What mark will the sisters leave on the world? Will they marry? How will they navigate both life and death in all its complication and beauty? Alcott answers these questions and more with her characteristic grace, her singular wit and her abiding faith in the power of love. A classic for all ages.

Now married, Jo Bhaer (nee March) couldn't be happier. Jo, along with her husband Professor Friedrich Bhaer, operates the Plumfield Estate School. Plumfield is a haven for poor orphans which is attended by 12 adopted boy as well as Jo's own two sons. Although Plumfield is a place of trust and warmth, the boys occasionally struggle to maintain good manners.

Little Women (Part 2): Three years later, Meg and John marry and learn how to live together. When they have twins, Meg is a devoted mother but John begins to feel neglected and left out. Meg seeks advice from Marmee, who helps her find balance in her married life by making more time for wifely duties and encouraging John to become more involved with child rearing. - Laurie graduates from college, having put in the effort to do well in his last year with Jo's prompting. Amy is chosen over Jo to go on a European tour with her aunt. Beth's health is weak due to complications from scarlet fever and her spirits are down. While trying to uncover the reason for Beth's sadness, Jo realizes that Laurie has fallen in love. At first she believes it's with Beth, but soon senses it's with herself. Jo confides in Marmee, telling her that she loves Laurie like a brother and that she could not love him in a romantic way. Little Women is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters-Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy-and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. Loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters, it is classified as an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel.

Jo March Bhaer, who first appeared in Little Women, returns as the compassionate mentor to the boys and girls of Plumfield school. The original students are now young men and women, scattered the world over but always drawn to Plumfield to share their experiences. With fond memories of their school days to comfort them, the young men travel far and wide in search of happiness and fulfillment. The firebrand Dan finds adventure and peril in the American West. Emil's life is threatened as he sails the high seas. And all the while, tender romances are finally blossoming. Based on real-life people and events, Jo's Boys has struck an affectionate chord with generations of readers since its publication. The stories of many cherished characters - from both Little Women and Little Men- are given satisfying, heart-warming conclusions. Barbara Caruso's affectionate narration carries readers back to New England in the late 1800s, when life was simpler but still full of adventure.

Taking place ten years after Little Men, Louisa May Alcott's Jo's Boys, and How They Turned Out is the third and final book in the Little Women trilogy. Originally published in 1886, two years before the author's death, Jo's Boys follows the lives of the young men readers came to love and cherish in its prequel. In it, we learn the fates of Jo's sons, Rob and Teddy, along with the other boys at Plumfield Estate School. Written in classic Alcott style, we see how the boys struggle to overcome their many flaws, in the end learning life's lessons the hard way. Just as the March girls did, each boy must learn to deal with death, love, heartbreak, and the consequences of their actions. Audiences will feel pain and joy alongside each young man as he completes his life journey and fulfills his dreams in this classic conclusion to one of America's most beloved series.

The final novel chronicling the adventures and misadventures of the March family, Jo's Boys is entertaining, surprising, and an overall joy to listen to. Set ten years after Little Men, Jo's Boys revisits Plumfield, the New England school still presided over by Jo and her husband, Professor Bhaer. Jo's Boys—including sailor Emil, promising musician Nat, and rebellious Dan—are grown. Jo herself remains at the center of this tale, holding her boys fast through shipwreck and storm, disappointment—and even murder.

Little Women Based loosely on Louisa May Alcott's own upbringing, this American classic follows the lives of four sisters-Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March. Each girl has a vision of what their ideal future will bring, but each ultimately experiences, as most young people do, something completely different. Little Men Now married, Jo couldn't be happier. Along with her husband, she operates the Plumfield Estate School. Plumfield is a haven for poor orphans and is attended by twelve adopted boys as well as Jo's own two sons. Although Plumfield is a place of trust and warmth, the boys occasionally struggle to maintain good manners.