Little Women By Louisa May Alcott Illustrated Edition

Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in mid-nineteenth-century New England. Includes movie stills from the 2019 feature film directed by Greta Gerwig.

Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Alcott wrote the books rapidly over several months at the request of her publisher. The novel follows the lives of four sisters-Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March-detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood, and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters.Little Women was an immediate commercial and critical success, and readers demanded to know more about the characters. Alcott quickly completed a second volume, entitled Good Wives. It was also successful. The two volumes were issued in 1880 in a single work entitled Little Women. Alcott also wrote two sequels to her popular work, both of which also featured the March sisters: Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Although Little Women was a novel for girls, it differed notably from the current writings for children, especially girls. The novel addressed three major themes: "domesticity, work, and true love, all of them interdependent and each necessary to the achievement of its heroine's individual identity."Little Women "has been read as a romance or as a quest, or both. It has been read as a family drama that validates virtue over wealth", but also "as a means of escaping that life by women who knew its gender constraints only too well". According to Sarah Elbert, Alcott created a new form of literature, one that took elements from Romantic children's fiction and combined it with others from sentimental novels, resulting in a totally new format. Elbert argued that within Little Women can be found the first vision of the "All-American girl" and that her multiple aspects are embodied in the differing March sisters.

Little Women is one of the most widely read novels. Ruth MacDonald argued that "Louisa May Alcott stands as one of the great American practitioners of the girls' novel and the family story." In the 1860s, gendered separation of children's fiction was a newer division in literature. This division signaled a beginning of polarization of gender roles as social constructs "as class stratification increased". Joy Kasson wrote, "Alcott chronicled the coming of age of young girls, their struggles with issues such as selfishness and generosity, the nature of individual integrity, and, above all, the question of their place in the world around them." Girls related to the March sisters in Little Women, along with following the lead of their heroines, by assimilating aspects of the story into their own lives.

Little Women was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. This edition contains both volumes. It follows the lives of the four March sisters-Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy- from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters.

Louisa May Alcott's beloved tale about Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy is presented in a beautiful Everyman's Library Children's Classics edition. The story of the four sisters' dreams, quarrels, and romances are brought to vivid life in this edition that features full cloth binding in bold, bright colors; silk ribbon marker and headband; two-color illustrated endpapers and illustrations throughout. A brief biography of Alcott is also included.

Little Women: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, The Story of Their Lives, A Girls' Book was written by Louisa May Alcott and published in two parts. Roberts Brothers published the first part on September 30, 1868. After its success, with the first 2000 copies sold in just one month, the editor confirmed that Alcott should write a second part, which was published on April 14, 1869, and sold thirteen thousand copies in two weeks. The full book was edited and republished in 1880. It has never gone out of print. While generally read independently, Little Women was followed by two more novels in the series: Little Men in 1871 and Jo's Boys in 1886.

Discover Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel—now featuring gorgeous photos from Greta Gerwig’s big-screen adaptation--in this stunning keepsake reproduction of the book as seen in the film! Readers have been falling for the timeless story of sisters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as they navigate hardship and adventure in post-Civil War Concord, Massachusetts, for more than 150 years. This new keepsake edition of the classic novel is illustrated throughout with gorgeous black-and-white photos from the film adaptation written for the screen and directed by Greta Gerwig, and starring Timothée Chalamet, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Louis Garrel, James Norton, Bob Odenkirk, Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan, Eliza Scanlen, Meryl Streep, and Emma Watson, perfect for a new generation of fans. It is the ultimate introduction to Lousia May’s Alcott’s classic tale as well as a must-have keepsake for fans of the film.

Grown-up Meg, tomboyish Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. The four March sisters couldn't be more different. But with their father away at war, and their mother working to support the family, they have to rely on one another. Whether they're putting on a play, forming a secret society, or celebrating Christmas, there's one thing they can't help wondering: Will Father return home safely?