—L.M. Montgomery, Anne of The Island/ Louisa May Alcott, Little Women/ Unknown/ John Keats, To The Ladies Who Saw Me Crowned/ Anne Sexton, Suicide Note: The Complete Poems/ Irish Murdoch, The Italian Girls/ Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath/ Anne Sexton, The Truth the Dead Know/ Virginia Woolf, The Waves/ Pablo Neruda, One Hundred Sonnets
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.
