LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott

Rating: 4 / 5

Over on Instagram, my friend Mary (@ahatforeveryread) has a  #badassbonnetbabe challenge to highlight a strong female author or character from the “bonnet days”. Louisa May Alcott has definitely written some feisty bonnet wearing gals in LITTLE WOMEN, so since Kylee is much cuter in a hat than I am, I offer up my furry bonnet babe for the challenge.

LITTLE WOMEN is a classic that I’m sure that I had read in some form or another when I was younger, but I’m not sure if I had ever read the full novel. This beautiful edition was calling to me, though, and since I knew I would be reading a new adaptation of this novel (MEG & JO by Virginia Kantra which I’m now currently reading and enjoying) it seemed this was the perfect time to pick up the original.

LITTLE WOMEN focuses on four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March back in the so called “bonnet days” aka (in this case) during/after the Civil War. With their father off to war, the girls and their mother must make ends meet however they can. The older girls work and all of the girls must pitch in around the house, but they also form lasting friendships with each other and with their neighbors, they explore their ambitions in music and writing and they learn to stand up for themselves. The novel follows the girls into early adulthood as they grow up and find their way in the world.

This isn’t a plot heavy book I wouldn’t say and it felt a little slow to me in parts, but the author does a great job of building each of the characters up as the novel progresses and it is clear why this has become such a classic! This is a book that I have been meaning to revisit and I’m so glad that I did. Having read this one so recently, the retelling I’m now working on carries even more meaning for me!