21 h 57 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 21 h 57 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Four sisters dream of different futures, but how do they grow without growing apart?
In a cold New England living room, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March complain about Christmas without presents. Their family has lost its money, and their father serves as a chaplain with the Union army. With Marmee guiding them, the sisters face small disappointments and hard choices that test their kindness.
Louisa May Alcott gives each sister a wish of her own. Meg loves pretty things, Jo wants to write, Beth treasures music and home, and Amy dreams of becoming an artist. As they quarrel, work, and fall in love, they must decide what matters most—and what they are willing to change.
What you’ll discover
- Four distinct sisters Meet girls whose clashing tempers and shared affection make family life feel warm and real.
- Jo's restless ambition Follow a fiery young writer as she wrestles with temper, independence, and the desire for fame.
- Kindness put to work A Christmas breakfast given away turns generosity from a fine idea into a concrete choice.
- Friendship next door Discover Laurie, the lonely neighbor whose lively spirit finds friendship among the March sisters.
- Goodness without dullness Explore how pride, vanity, and anger test people who genuinely want to do better.
Who will love it
For readers who love family stories, funny household scenes and sisters finding their paths in life. Writers and anyone with a sister will feel a special bond with the Marches and their dreams.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Four sisters face a poor Christmas
- Marmee teaches them to play pilgrims
- Laurie and Mr. Laurence open new doors
- Pride, temper and vanity must be mastered
- A telegram calls the family to crisis
- Growing up means love, work and choice
- Home is the book's moral center
- Women's lives and the cost of goodness
- A plain voice and a pilgrim's structure
Who’s who
- Meg MarchThe eldest sister, kind and responsible, who loves pretty things and must learn what matters more than wealth and show.
- Jo MarchThe second sister, a fiery, boyish writer who wants independence and fame and must learn to master her temper.
- Beth MarchThe shy, musical third sister, who loves home, her piano and her poor neighbors, and who wants only to keep the family close.
- Amy MarchThe youngest, an artistic girl who wants refinement and success and must learn to put others before her own vanity.
- MarmeeThe girls' mother, who guides them with patience and honesty while running the household and quietly mastering her own temper.
- LaurieThe lively, lonely boy next door, who becomes the sisters' friend and longs to belong to their family.
- Mr. LaurenceLaurie's stern, kind grandfather, a rich neighbor who loves music and comes to care for the March girls.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print hardcover
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Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy
by Louisa May Alcott · 1868
Four sisters face a Christmas without presents and begin to discover what makes a good life.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to readItaliano
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In short
Four sisters, a cold December afternoon and not a single present between them. Alcott wrote it after her publisher asked for a book for girls, and she drew on her own childhood.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Four sisters face a poor Christmas
The story opens in the March living room in December. The girls grumble. Jo says from the rug that Christmas will not be Christmas without presents. Meg sighs over her old dresses, and Amy envies richer girls. Only Beth points out that they still have father, mother and each other.
The family once lived comfortably, but the father lost his money helping a friend. Now he is away with the Union army, and the girls feel the limits of a small budget most when they look at richer neighbors. Then a warm letter arrives from him, asking them to be brave and to fight their faults.
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Also in the Louisa May Alcott Book Set: Three Novels
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1868
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/little-women-or-meg-jo-beth-and-amy.
Alcott, L. M. (2026). Little women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/little-women-or-meg-jo-beth-and-amy (Original work published 1868)
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/little-women-or-meg-jo-beth-and-amy.
@book{alcott2026little,
author = {Alcott, Louisa May},
title = {Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/little-women-or-meg-jo-beth-and-amy},
note = {First published 1868}
}
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What is Little Women about?
It follows four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March, growing up during and after the Civil War. They learn to master their faults, face hardship and choose their paths in life.
Is Little Women based on a true story?
It is fiction, but Alcott drew heavily on her own family. Jo is closely modeled on Alcott herself, and the sisters resemble her real sisters. The first part came out in 1868 and the second in 1869.
Why is it called Little Women?
The title refers to the four sisters as girls who are growing into women. The full title also names Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, and the book follows them from their early teens into adulthood.
The author
Louisa May Alcott
1832–1888 · American novelist
Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) was an American novelist born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She lived mainly in Massachusetts, including Boston and Concord. She wrote Little Women, published in two parts in 1868 and 1869, An Old-Fashioned Girl in 1870, Little Men in 1871, and Work: A Story of Experience in 1873.
More by Louisa May Alcott
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