#little men
The prince isn’t as particular as you’d like to think.
Last page of Little Snowdrop by Grace C. Floyd, ca. 1900
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I had tears in my eyes… This series* has to be one of the best I have ever read. Alcott took me through the lives of three* women; Meg, Jo and Amy, from childhood to adulthood and showed how they faced problems and certainly in Jo’s case - showed how to help others.
For me, Jo’s Boys was my favourite (admittedly I cried most in this, but only at the end in one big gush) because I knew the characters and had gained the affection that a lot of readers find wells up in their heart (even though the characters are fictional…). I was physically pleased that so many of them succeeded in life; Emil survived, Nat became an accomplished violinist*, Dan found an honest reason to live*, Tommy finds the right ‘little woman’ & profession and both Rob & Teddy (and Professor Bhaer) support Jo so much - the blood family within the college family just give you more and more reasons to smile and laugh.
Without giving too much away, these are some of the best books I’ve ever read. They are wonderful reads and are full of morals, taught through every day situations - or one off, life threatening situations. If I didn’t have such a long 'to read’ list, I’d read them all again.
*SPOILERS
- I refer to it as a series because 'Good Wives’ is actually a separate book, however it is often put as a sort of 'part 2’ in Little Women, which would make it a trilogy. I see them as four books - some see them as three - each to their own.
- There were four sisters to begin with, but little Beth dies, it’s incredibly upsetting. :(
- Nat also married Daisy - his accomplishments and willingness to wait while abroad for two years convinced Daisy’s mother (Meg) that he was right for her daughter.
- Dan had been in prison and the only thing to keep him alive and sane was a little picture of Bess (AKA Princess - she was incredibly pretty, sweet, quiet, kind and everyone loved her), Amy’s daughter. This little affection gave him a reason to live for others, not for himself. We discover at the end he was shot and killed defending his friends, the Indians.
- Also, Nan stays in medicine, Demi marries Alice and gets an honest job in publishing and John dies. A lot die. Be prepared.
Love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive.
—Louisa May Alcott,Little Men: Life at Pumfield with Jo’s Boys, 1871.
Little Men. Louisa May Alcott. Illustrated by Clara M. Burd. John C. Winston Company (1928). First edition.
Little Men recounts six months in the life of the students at Plumfield, a school run by Professor Friedrich and Mrs. Josephine Bhaer. The idea of the school is first suggested at the very end of part two of “Little Women”, when Jo inherited the estate from her Aunt March.
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