1868
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott · 1832–1888 · United States
Why it matters
Four sisters navigate poverty, ambition, love, and loss in Civil War-era New England. A domestic novel that made girls' inner lives and creative ambitions serious literary material for the first time.
At a glance
bildungsromanfamily saga
Difficulty 3/10medium pace449 pagesWarm, direct prose aimed at a young readership.
Deep dive
Why Jo's ink-stained ambition keeps colliding with the marriage plot the novel otherwise seems happy to hand every other March sister.
