REVIEW: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This month I challenged myself to read nothing but classics. This is my 3rd this month and I am 3/3 on great books. What a charming story! Little Women follows the March sisters: Meg-the oldest and prettiest sister, Jo-the tomboy and aspiring writer, Beth- the painfully shy music lover, and Amy-the artist who yearns to be a true lady. Each of these characters is interesting and different in their own right but it is the family bond emphasized throughout the story that makes this book so endearing.

I enjoyed both the light-hearted moments where the sisters play "Pilgrim's Progress" and form a club complete with meetings and a newspaper and where each is named after a Charles Dicken's character and also the trials the girls face such as their father's illness and learning to appreciate what they do have in life despite their poverty.

There is also plenty of romance-even for Jo who claims she will be a literary spinster all her days. I liked all of the girls but I really loved Jo because she had such spirit, stayed true to herself throughout the entire book and never gave up on her dreams. There is even a bit of sadness as one of the sisters tragically dies. I do have to say I didn't like the youngest sister, Amy, very much in the beginning of the book but once she approached womanhood she definitely grew on me in the end.

I noticed on Amazon that the age range given for the book is 9-12. This book is completely refreshing when compared with some of the books that girls in this age range are reading now. LW is completely innocent which I love. I keep asking myself why I never read this when I was younger. I would recommend Little Women to anyone looking for a good family story.




If the FTC is wondering: This book is from my own personal library