Good Wives

Product Information

The last words were in answer to the look the elder lady gave him; a kindly, questioning look, which the handsome eyes met so frankly that the little ceremony closed, as usual, with a motherly kiss. Bored with back to back TV, I picked up Little Women (which I had recently gotten free from the radio times due to a new adaptation) and began reading with much trepidation, feeling that if it was anything like Jane Austen’s work (which I don’t have the greatest affection for) it would be a bit of a slog. I found a gorgeous early 20 th century edition that matches my copy of Little Women shortly afterwards, but as usual, it was left to gather dust for a few months before I got around to reading it. You won’t give anyone a chance,” said Laurie, with a sidelong glance, and a little more color than before in his sunburned face.

And don’t be too hard on yourself, you lovely young lady, Jo wouldn’t be beyond elbowing someone for a seat on the Tube!When I am not reading Little Women, I always think how nauseatingly virtuous Beth is, but when I reread, I cry and cry every time. I won’t be reading them for a while though as I don’t have Little Men, just Jo’s Boys, and I don’t want to read Jo’s Boys out of sequence. Often combined with Little Women in film adaptations, Good Wives completes the story of the March sisters. Jo confides in Marmee, telling her that she loves Laurie like a brother and that she could not love him in a romantic way.

Now don’t say any more about it; Meg’s wedding has turned all our heads, and we talk of nothing but lovers and such absurdities. Those interested in domestic reform could look to the pages of Little Women to see how a "democratic household" would operate. As Laurie spoke, he delivered a brown paper parcel to Meg, pulled Beth’s hair ribbon, stared at Jo’s big pinafore, and fell into an attitude of mock rapture before Amy, then shook hands all around, and everyone began to talk. Often coddled because she is the youngest, Amy can behave in a vain and self-centered way, though she does still love her family.

I re-read Little Women last year and was surprised to find that my memories of the story had been unduly influenced by the wonderful Winona Ryder-Kirsten Dunst-Claire Danes film version I watched as a child; in comparison to the film, half the book appeared to be missing, and I wondered why the filmmakers had taken such liberties in extending the story so far beyond Louisa May Alcott’s imagination! Meg seeks advice from Marmee, who helps her find balance in her married life by making more time for wifely duties and encouraging John to become more involved with child rearing. Laurie is the "boy next door" to the March family and has an overprotective paternal grandfather, Mr. More young women started writing stories that had adventurous plots and "stories of individual achievement—traditionally coded male—challenged women's socialization into domesticity. Alcott subsequently wrote two sequels to her popular work, both also featuring the March sisters: Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886).

If she only had a servant or two it would be all right,” said Amy, coming out of the parlor, where she had been trying to decide whether the bronze Mercury looked best on the whatnot or the mantlepiece. Not surprisingly due to the name of the book, this part mainly focuses on the sisters settling down into relationships and moving out of the family home. Editions published in the 21st century may be the original text unaltered, the original text with illustrations, the original text annotated for the reader (explaining terms of 1868–69 that are less common now), the original text modernized and abridged, or the original text abridged. I saw it going into your house as I came by, and if she hadn’t defended it manfully I’d have had a pick at it, for it looked like a remarkably plummy one.Alcott's novels are brought together here - 'Little Women' and 'Good Wives', the first two of the quartet which tell the story of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, as they move from childhood to families of their own. While I agree the style is very different than what the modern reader expects I think that is the very reason everyone should read it. They eventually marry and raise his two orphaned nephews, Franz and Emil, and their own sons, Rob and Ted. Good Wives" opens three years later, with Meg and her family happily preparing for her marriage to John Brooke. Little Women was an immediate commercial and critical success, and readers were eager for more about the characters.