Riassunto
Riassunto di I ragazzi di Jo
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love the March family and want to see how they grew up, and anyone who enjoys gentle family stories about work, love, forgiveness and choosing a calling.
Che cos’è questo libro
Jo's Boys is a novel by Louisa May Alcott, published in 1886. It is the third book about the March family and their school at Plumfield, after Little Women and Little Men. Alcott wrote it near the end of her working life, and she was often tired and unwell. Readers had asked for years to know what became of Jo and her pupils, and this book is her answer.
The story begins ten years after Little Men. The small school for boys has grown into Plumfield College, a place where young men and, unusually for the time, young women study side by side. Jo Bhaer is now a busy mother and a well known author. Her husband, Professor Bhaer, runs the school with her. Around them stand the boys we met as children, who are now young adults with plans, faults and loves of their own.
You will find a warm, busy household novel. It is full of small adventures, hard choices about work and love, and plain talk about growing up. It asks what a good life is made of, and who is allowed to choose one. Let us begin with the place itself, because Plumfield has changed a good deal since the last book.
In questo riassunto
- 1Plumfield grows from a school into a collegeFree
- 2Jo is famous and finds fame a burden
- 3Nan wants to be a doctor and will not be moved
- 4Nat chases music and Tom stumbles toward success
- 5Dan comes home, restless and hard to tame
- 6The younger generation brings art and drama
- 7Work, vocation and a woman's place
- 8Family, forgiveness and growing up
- 9How Alcott tells it: voice, structure and tone
Punto chiave 1 di 9
Plumfield grows from a school into a college
The first thing to know is how much has changed. The old house where Jo and Professor Bhaer once taught a handful of boys now stands at the center of a small college. Its growth has been paid for in good part by Laurie, Jo's old friend and neighbor, who has become a rich man with a generous heart. Other benefactors have helped too, and the school has new buildings, new teachers and many more students.
The college is still run like a family. Professor Bhaer, whom everyone calls Father Bhaer, believes in teaching the whole person, not only the mind. He wants his students to learn kindness, honesty and self control along with Latin and mathematics. Jo, for her part, keeps the warmth of the house alive. The students still gather around her fire, ask her advice and tell her their troubles.
Alcott opens with the opening of the college year, and the book moves among the many students and teachers. The reader is meant to feel the noise and good humor of a big house. There are pranks, loud meals, quarrels in the dormitories and long talks on the porch. It is a place where we watch people grow over several seasons.
The college is also a quiet statement about education. Women are admitted here, which was still a bold idea in the 1880s. The Bhaers believe that girls and boys can learn together and respect one another. This is not shown as a daring experiment but as common sense, and the book treats the students' wish to learn as simply good.
For a listener, the lesson of this first part is that a community can be built on trust. Plumfield works because the people in charge expect the best from the young and forgive them when they fail. Keep that idea in mind. Every young person in the book is tested against it.
The setting also gives Alcott a tidy way to bring back old favorites. Tom, Nat, Demi, Nan and others walk in as young adults, and we meet new faces beside them. You do not need to remember every name from Little Men. The book introduces its people clearly and returns to them again and again.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Jo Bhaer
- A mother, teacher and famous author, Jo runs Plumfield with her husband and cares deeply for their pupils.
- Professor Bhaer
- Jo's kind husband runs Plumfield College with her, teaching their students character as well as academic subjects.
- Nan Harding
- A determined young woman at Plumfield, Nan pursues medicine and resists Tom Bangs's hopes of romance.
- Tom Bangs
- A cheerful, clumsy medical student and former Plumfield prankster, Tom is fond of Nan and means well.
- Nat Blake
- A gifted young violinist raised at Plumfield, Nat hopes to study abroad but still needs Jo's guidance.
- Dan Kean
- A restless former pupil especially dear to Jo, Dan returns to Plumfield after years of wandering.
- Josie Brooke
- Meg's spirited youngest daughter and Jo's niece, Josie dreams of acting and stages dramas of her own.
- Bess Laurence
- Amy and Laurie's graceful daughter and Jo's niece, Bess shares her mother's artistic interests and loves sculpture.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 103,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 6 h 55 min
- Listening time11 h 30 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about I ragazzi di Jo
What is Jo's Boys about?
It follows the Bhaer family ten years after Little Men, when Plumfield has become a college. Jo's former pupils, now young adults, choose careers and loves while Jo copes with fame and the cost of her success.
Do I need to read Little Women and Little Men first?
It helps, because the book follows people introduced earlier. But Alcott reintroduces the main characters clearly, so a reader can follow the story without the earlier books, though some warmth comes from knowing the family.
Who are Jo's boys?
They are the pupils and family members raised at Plumfield, including Nat, Dan, Tom, Demi and Jo's own sons Rob and Ted. The title also covers the girls, such as Nan, Daisy, Josie and Bess.
When was Jo's Boys written and is it a true story?
Louisa May Alcott published it in 1886. It is fiction, though Jo is partly drawn from Alcott herself, and the book's jokes about fame and visitors reflect her own experience as a well known author.
What is the main message of Jo's Boys?
The book argues that young people grow best when they are trusted and forgiven, that work gives life meaning, and that women should be free to choose their own callings and a home built on care.