Little Women

Four sisters grow up poor in a small New England town while their father serves as a chaplain in the war. Meg, the eldest, is pretty and longs for the comfortable life the family has lost. Jo is restless, quick-tempered and writes stories she hopes to sell. Beth is shy, kind and happiest at the piano. Amy, the youngest, is vain, artistic and determined to become a lady. Their mother, whom they call Marmee, holds the house together on very little money.

The story begins at Christmas with no presents and no money, and the sisters give their breakfast away to a starving neighbour family. Across the road stands the great Laurence house, where a lonely boy named Laurie lives with his stern grandfather. Jo befriends him, and the two households slowly become one family. Beth wins the old man's heart and is given a piano. Amy quarrels with Jo and burns the only copy of Jo's book; Jo nearly lets her drown before she forgives her.

A telegram calls Marmee to Washington, where the father lies ill. Jo sells her long hair to pay for the journey. While their mother is away Beth catches scarlet fever from the poor family and never fully recovers her strength. The father comes home. Meg marries John Brooke, Laurie's tutor, and leaves for a small house of her own.

The sisters grow apart and up. Amy is chosen over Jo for a journey to Europe. Jo goes to New York to write, and boards with a German scholar, Professor Bhaer, who tells her the truth about her sensational stories. Laurie asks Jo to marry him and she refuses him. Beth dies quietly at home in the spring. Amy and Laurie meet again in Switzerland and fall in love. Jo, alone and grieving, begins to write honestly at last, and Professor Bhaer comes to find her. The book closes at Plumfield, the old house Aunt March leaves to Jo, where the surviving sisters gather with their husbands and children.