Little Women

Some people say this is an American "Pride and Prejudice", some still can't believe certain heartbreaking moments of the story but there is no Western reader who would stay indifferent to Alcott's Little Women. As in Jane Austen's story, there are several - four March sisters - who are incredibly close to each other and yet so different in their ways of thinking and living. The eldest, Meg is a kind-hearted and high-principled beauty of the family, rather like Jane of the Bennets. The third daughter, Beth is a shy and domestic thing whose destiny is quite different from other girls'. The youngest one, Amy, is a non-ending fireworks of jokes, mischiefs and whims for the Marches but she is also the one that inspires the others and gives great emotional support. But actually the main character is a tomboyish, fiery Jo March, who is a uniting force of the family like Lizzy Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. 


The girls develop and mature during the Civil War, and that influences their relationships with the world and with each other. Friendship turns into something new and jealosy becomes known. But despite many changes and hardships the March family keeps its dignity and remains a unit. Certain feminist and political issues make this book interesting for any type of reader.


This touching, lived-through novel tells not about what a family should be but about its essential features - losses and gains, problems and happy moments.