Tuesday 1 January 2013

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott


Back in September, I started a Little Women read-along hosted by Risa at Breadcrumb Reads (you can see my thoughts here and here).  It covered the first volume of the story Little Women but not the second part, which is sometimes known as Good Wives.  Indeed, growing up, I always knew the two parts as two separate novels but that isn't always the case and my Penguin Threads edition contains both.  So before the end of 2012, I decided to clear the reading decks by finishing the second half of the novel.  This review will cover the whole story but focus mainly on Good Wives.  There are spoilers ahead!

Good Wives opens three years after the events of Little Women, with the wedding of the oldest March sister Meg to John Brooke. It's a far more grown up story than the first, with all of the sisters reaching adulthood and trying to find their own way in the world.  Jo jumps at an opportunity to go to New York and pursue a career in writing, but is in for some hard knocks along the way.  Amy still wants to be a 'lady', but has learned to control her vanity and has to decide whether to marry purely for the money that the family needs.  Meg learns that being a wife and running a home can be a challenge and Beth is still the same kind soul she was from the first volume.

I first read Good Wives as a teenager, and I remember not being too impressed with it.  My young, romantic heart was very disappointed that Jo and Laurie didn't end up together and the concerns of the sisters didn't really relate to my own life.  But now, in my mid-twenties, the book makes a lot more sense.  Like the March girls, I grew up in a happy home with a sister I'm close to and growing up and away is both a lovely and sad experience.  I read that in the book too, the happiness to be achieving dreams and getting married but the sadness and nostalgia that things will never be the same again.  I've been married for eighteen months and I'm now an aunt, which is wonderful, but sometimes I miss being young and living at home with my Mum, Dad and sister.  There was a sense of that throughout the whole second half of the novel which spoke to me.  I completely missed the bitter-sweet tone of the story as a teenager.

Reading Good Wives, I feel justified in choosing Amy as my favourite of the March girls.  In Little Women she's always struggling to catch up with her older sisters but in Good Wives she has matured.  On this read, I could appreciate how well suited Amy and Laurie were, her calmness offsetting his hot-headedness.  Obviously this means my young, romantic heart has well and truly left the building!

Reading Little Women was like sitting down with old friends, the whole experience was very comforting.  I was thoroughly into the story and felt the emotions along with the sisters (especially when a certain tragic event takes place).  I'm glad I made the time to re-read this book.


Classics Club: Book 5/72 

Source: Personal copy
First Published: 1868
My Edition: Penguin Threads, 2012
Score: 5 out of 5

24 comments:

  1. Your copy is so beautiful!
    I could only glance over your review since I haven't read Good Wives yet, but now I'm really curious to pick it up soon. Stupidly, the two parts are sold separately here in Austria.

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    1. I think they used to be only sold separately here too, until recently? Or I could be wrong, but either way I definitely remember them as two distinct books.

      And the Penguin Thread covers are gorgeous, aren't they?

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  2. Sam, this is a great review of one of my favorite books. I also was soooo disappointed the first time I read it and Laurie and Jo didn't end up together. Then, in my 20s when I re-read it again, I was so glad that they didn't as Amy was a MUCH better match for him, duh! I think that my favorite sister was always Beth, though I do feel like I am more of a Jo in real life. Loved this review, and Happy New Year!

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    1. I was gutted too, I remember going to complain about it to my older sister who had already read the book! It's awesome to be a Jo in real-life, I would like to be like her or Beth but in reality I'm probably an Amy!

      Happy New Year :)

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  3. I've never been a fan of Little Women, either growing up or as an adult, but I do LOVE the new embroidered covers that some Penguin classics are getting!

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    1. I know, they are gorgeous. I almost bought Black Beauty the other day even though I don't like the story just so I could own the beautiful edition!

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  4. I love Little Women better than Good Wives, just for the pure comfort value of each. I still deeply resent that Laury and Jo didn't get married, because I think they would have had an awesomely fun spousey life, but I can accept Louisa May Alcott's reasons for not getting them together. I still don't think he should have married Amy instead -- it made the sisters seem so interchangeable.

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    1. They would have had fun together but there would also have been too many arguments, I think! In a way it does make the sisters seem interchangeable but Laurie & Amy's romance was developed well in the book, so I didn't mind it.

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  5. The Best of Wishes for this bright New year.

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  6. I always felt more identified with Amy in Good Wives, but to be sincere, I found the tone behind the whole story too patronizing and housewifey in a bad way. I felt Meg's story and Marmee's attitude towards her and how to be a "good" wife the ideas behind women's violence. I know it's the 19th century and this is a pre-feminist work so I should read it as such, bui it was too much for me.

    Happy New Year, Sam!

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    1. I sort of agree with you. But I think a lot of what Meg does is unnecessary and comes from her, not Marmee. What John wants most is companionship, not necessarily a nice house with dinner in the oven as he walks through the door! I also imagine Jo made a less conventional wife :P

      Happy New Year!

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  7. Ah, I do love "Good Wives" purely for the fact that it's where Jo gets to experiment with her writing and live in New York and meet that awesome professor. "Little Women" is much of a comfort read though and I love seeing the sisters be young and play and live together.

    Beth was my favorite sister and the tragic event broke my heart D:

    And I'm afraid I'll always hold a grudge towards Amy for burning Jo's stories :P I can't help it. And it does seem weird to me that Laurie married Amy instead. Not that I think he should have married Jo but it just seems very uncomfortable and awkward to me, even if it isn't for Jo.

    This is definitely a favorite of mine, though. I love this family as if it were my own. I'm glad you got a chance to re-read it and experience the story in a different way.

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    1. I liked reading about Jo living and writing in New York too, although I don't think there's anything wrong with writing sensational stories!

      You're right about the books being comforting and knowing the characters like they are your own family :)

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  8. That is a great cover for Little Women... I hope to read it... soon? You have me considering again whether I should join the Classics Club.

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    1. I like being in the classics club, but then I'm not putting any pressure on myself regarding finishing my list in a certain time - for me it's just a list of books I want to read at some point in the future, when I feel inspired to pick them up.

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  9. I read the abridged version as a kid and I would love to read it again, though it is not on my List. Great review

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    1. I'm the same, I read the abridged version when I was younger so felt the need to read it 'properly'!

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  10. Hmm...it might be time for me to read this again. I remember being sad about the Jo/Laurie thing as well when I was younger, but I love Jo and the Professor now. There's something really sweet about their relationship.

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  11. Lindsey, I agree about Jo and Prof. Bhaer. It seems to make a difference how old you are when you read Little Women as to how one feels about that relationship. I didn't read Little Women until a couple of years ago and I'm past 50. And I loved it! And Sam (Tiny Library), yours is the first comment I've read that recognized that Amy grew into a gracious woman with inner beauty who was the right pick for Laurie. Louisa did such a good job painting younger Amy as the obnoxious spoiled brat that people don't shed that image even as they read of Amy maturing. Not fair, I say (do I sound like Amy?) :-).

    I blog on Louisa and wrote several posts on Little Women if you want to see - the site is www.lousiamayalcottismypassion and if you go to the menus, select "Her Writing," you'll see "Little Women" and then "Little Women Posts."

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  12. My favorite was always Jo, but I remember being hugely disappointed by her choice of husband when I was younger. As an adult I think her choice is fitting and wise, and part of what I like about the story is how it's just as good when I read it as an adult, but I get different things out of it.

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  13. Lovely review. I recently reread Little Women and Good Wives too, and I found myself appreciating GW a lot more than I did at first. It felt less like LMA's attempt at ripping my heart out (I was quite self-centered as a child :D) and more like an enchanting and realistic story about four young sisters.

    Not that I'm any less heartbroken about Laurie and Jo not ending up together or about that "certain tragic event".

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  14. I kept reading after you'd read Little Women - and intended to post about all four books - I have an unfinished draft lurking, I think...oops! I hit the pre-Christmas madness at work (large city Anglican parish...) and while I dove seriously into my books for refuge, I avoided computer screens outside work!

    Anyway... I'm such a Jo. And in the end, although I struggled with this as a teen reading these books, I got why she refused Laurie, and wished I knew myself at her age as well as she did. Reading these books now, I'm just as envious of that degree of self-knowledge and inherent wisdom of knowing not only herself, but Laurie as well. Amy always gave me the irrits...and still does - interestingly, she does fade away to become something of a cameo in the later two books. Meg's trials and tribulations irritated me as a teen because I just didn't get it - subsequent relationships and households later, I feel for her trying to find her way running a household. And Beth...ah well, many tissue boxes later...!

    I didn't have sisters and was always curious and envious at the same time of the relationships in these books. And then I had boys, so I was curious and envious of Marmee and her relationships with all four girls. Who knows - maybe one of the boys will grace me with a granddaughter and I will have a chance to experience that female to female relationship that has eluded me so far.

    I love these books - I'm so glad you started reading them and got me back to them - I'll have to go check out my unfinished post and tidy things up a bit there.

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