About Little Women

By Louisa May Alcott · first published in 1868 · Literary Fiction

Little Women follows the four March sisters through the years their father serves as a chaplain in the American Civil War: Meg, the eldest, who longs for pretty things; Jo, the hot-tempered tomboy who wants to be a writer; gentle Beth; and Amy, the youngest, an artist with a high opinion of herself.

Louisa May Alcott wrote the book at the suggestion of her publisher, Thomas Niles, who asked for a story for girls, and she drew on her own childhood with her three sisters in Concord, Massachusetts. The first part was published in 1868 and was such a success that a second part followed in 1869; the two are now usually printed together.

Alcott died in 1888 and the novel is in the public domain. The preview opens with Chapter One, on a winter evening when the sisters, short of money for Christmas, decide what to do with their dollar each.