Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women in 1868 reluctantly, under pressure from her publisher Thomas Niles, who had heard that "a book for girls" would sell. Alcott, who preferred writing lurid thrillers under a pseudonym, did not particularly want to write domestic fiction.
What she produced is one of the most widely read American novels of the 19th century and a book that has never been out of print.
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What Little Women Is About
The March family lives in Concord, Massachusetts. Father is away at the Civil War. Mother (Marmee) keeps the family together. The four sisters — Meg (the beauty), Jo (the writer), Beth (the musician), and Amy (the artist) — manage poverty and adolescence and the beginning of adulthood with varying degrees of grace.
The novel's first half follows a year: Christmastime chapters frame the seasons, each containing episodes of domestic comedy, crisis, and character development. The neighbour Laurie — rich, kind, and in love with Jo — enters the family orbit. So does his grandfather, who becomes Beth's particular friend.
The novel's second half (sometimes published separately as Good Wives) picks up three years later. Beth is ill. Amy is in Europe with their wealthy aunt. Jo is in New York writing. The question of who each sister becomes — and what that costs — is the subject.
The famous moment everyone remembers from Part II: Jo refuses Laurie's proposal. Alcott was emphatic that Jo should not marry Laurie, that their relationship was better as it was, and that marrying the appealing young man next door would be too easy. Readers have disagreed since 1869.
How Long Is Little Women?
| Reading speed | Time to finish |
|---|---|
| 200 WPM | ~15.4 hours |
| 250 WPM (average) | ~12.3 hours |
| 350 WPM (practised) | ~8.8 hours |
| 500 WPM (RSVP) | ~6.2 hours |
Reading Strategy
The chapter structure is domestic and episodic — each chapter is a self-contained episode in the sisters' year. This makes the novel ideal for reading one or two chapters per evening.
Jo's chapters — Alcott's prose is most alive in the sections following Jo. Use warpread's RSVP mode at 350 WPM here; the prose has energy and momentum.
Beth's chapters — written with different quality of attention; more elegiac and slow. Drop to 250 WPM.
Part II pace — many readers find Part II slightly less vivid than Part I. Push through; the major emotional events of the novel are here.
The Laurie question — notice how Alcott handles Laurie's proposal and Jo's refusal. It is the most carefully constructed scene in the novel, and Alcott's authorial presence is most visible here.
For the full speed reading technique, see how to read faster.
Where to Read Little Women Free
- warpread library — instant reading, RSVP mode, no account needed
- Project Gutenberg — complete text, EPUB and download
- Standard Ebooks — best-formatted free EPUB
Related Reading
For more in the American domestic tradition:
- Anne of Green Gables — the closest spiritual relative; another girl who refuses to fit the expected mould
- The Awakening — Kate Chopin's much darker view of what marriage costs a woman
- The Scarlet Letter — Hawthorne's New England, a generation earlier
For the full list of free classics, see the 50 best free classic novels to read online.
Topics
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