Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Ah! I have wanted to read this book for so long! But I have had such a tremendous pile of books to get through! This is one of my favourite movies ever, so I do hope the book is just as good if not better :)

"Money is a needful and precious thing - and, when well used, a

noble thing - but I never want you to think it is the first or only

prize to strive for. I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were

happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, 

without self-respect and peace." 

'Christmas seems to offer few joys to the four daughters of the 

March household. With their army chaplain father away at the

Civil War, times are hard for Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, and for

Marmee, the self-sacrificing matriarch of the New England family. 

A letter from their absent father exhorts the girls to work hard

and be dutiful, so that "I may be fonder and prouder than ever

of my little women." Jo, a coltish aspiring writer, rises to meet

that expectation, as do pretty, vain Meg; affected, selfish Amy; and 

shy, sweet-natured Beth. The road to maturity is full of simple

pleasures, and womanhood brings romance, but the family also 

has to face many trials and crises along the way. 

Louisa May Alcott drew heavily on her own experience for this

powerful domestic drama and moving coming-of-age story, whose

homespun charm and core family values made it a cultural landmark

in America, and enduringly popular in all corners of the globe.'