Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (English) Paperback Book

The Nile on eBay   Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Regina Barreca, Susan Straight

In time for the new major feature film in late 2019, a timeless new edition of one of the most beloved novels in American literature.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

In nineteenth-century New England, in the shadow of the Civil War, the four teenaged March sisters will come of age sharing joys and hardships, dreams and disappointments. In the throes of unfamiliar poverty and adult responsibility the girls, with their wildly different personalities, find it's not an easy time to make the transition from girlhood to womanhood. But nurtured by their wise and beloved Marmee, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are bound by their love for one another and the feminine strength they share.

Author Biography

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1832, the second of four daughters of Abigail May Alcott and Bronson Alcott, the prominent Transcendentalist thinker and social reformer. Raised in Concord, Massachusetts, and educated by her father, Alcott early on came under the influence of the great men of his circle: Emerson, Hawthorne, the preacher Theodore Parker, and Thoreau. From her youth, Louisa worked at various tasks to help support her family: sewing, teaching, domestic service, and writing. In 1862, she volunteered to serve as an army nurse in a Union hospital during the Civil War— an experience that provided her material for her first successful book, Hospital Sketches (1863). Between 1863 and 1869, she published several anonymous and pseudonymous Gothic romances and lurid thrillers. But fame came with the publication of her Little Women (1868– 69), a novel based on the childhood adventures of the four Alcott sisters, which received immense popular acclaim and brought her financial security as well as the conviction to continue her career as a writer. In the wake of Little Women's popularity, she brought out An Old- Fashioned Girl (1870), Little Men(1871), Eight Cousins (1875), Rose in Bloom (1876), Jo's Boys (1886), and other books for children, as well as two adult novels, Moods (1864) and Work (1873). An active participant in the women's suffrage and temperance movements during the last decade of her life, Alcott died in Boston in 1888, on the day her father was buried.Regina Barreca is a professor of English and feminist theory at the University of Connecticut. She is the editor of seven books, including The Penguin Book of Women's Humor, and the author of four others. She writes frequently for the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Hartford Courant.Susan Straight is the author of six novels, including A Million Nightingales and the National Book Award finalist Highwire Moon. She has written for The New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Harper's Magazine, and NPR's All Things Considered. Her short stories have won an Edgar Award and an O. Henry Award. She teaches at the University of California, Riverside.

Excerpt from Book

Chapter 1 NO Playing Pilgrims "Christmas won''t be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug. "It''s so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress. "I don''t think it''s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff. "We''ve got Father and Mother and each other," said Beth contentedly from her corner. The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, "We haven''t got Father, and shall not have him for a long time." She didn''t say "perhaps never," but each silently added it, thinking of Father far away, where the fighting was. Nobody spoke for a minute; then Meg said in an altered tone, "You know the reason Mother proposed not having any presents this Christmas was because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone; and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure, when our men are suffering so in the army. We can''t do much, but we can make our little sacrifices, and ought to do it gladly. But I am afraid I don''t." And Meg shook her head, as she thought regretfully of all the pretty things she wanted. "But I don''t think the little we should spend would do any good. We''ve each got a dollar, and the army wouldn''t be much helped by our giving that. I agree not to expect anything from Mother or you, but I do want to buy Undine and Sintram for myself. I''ve wanted it so long," said Jo, who was a bookworm. "I planned to spend mine in new music," said Beth, with a little sigh, which no one heard but the hearth brush and kettle holder. "I shall get a nice box of Faber''s drawing pencils. I really need them," said Amy decidedly. "Mother didn''t say anything about our money, and she won''t wish us to give up everything. Let''s each buy what we want, and have a little fun. I''m sure we work hard enough to earn it," cried Jo, examining the heels of her shoes in a gentlemanly manner. "I know I do-teaching those tiresome children nearly all day, when I''m longing to enjoy myself at home," began Meg, in the complaining tone again. "You don''t have half such a hard time as I do," said Jo. "How would you like to be shut up for hours with a nervous, fussy old lady, who keeps you trotting, is never satisfied, and worries you till you''re ready to fly out of the window or cry?" "It''s naughty to fret, but I do think washing dishes and keeping things tidy is the worst work in the world. It makes me cross, and my hands get so stiff, I can''t practice well at all." And Beth looked at her rough hands with a sigh that any one could hear that time. "I don''t believe any of you suffer as I do," cried Amy, "for you don''t have to go to school with impertinent girls, who plague you if you don''t know your lessons, and laugh at your dresses, and label your father if he isn''t rich, and insult you when your nose isn''t nice." "If you mean libel, I''d say so, and not talk about labels, as if Papa was a pickle bottle," advised Jo, laughing. "I know what I mean, and you needn''t be statirical about it. It''s proper to use good words, and improve your vocabilary," returned Amy, with dignity. "Don''t peck at one another, children. Don''t you wish we had the money Papa lost when we were little, Jo? Dear me! how happy and good we''d be, if we had no worries!" said Meg, who could remember better times. "You said the other day you thought we were a deal happier than the King children, for they were fighting and fretting all the time, in spite of their money." "So I did, Beth. Well, I think we are; for, though we do have to work, we make fun for ourselves, and are a pretty jolly set, as Jo would say." "Jo does use such slang words!" observed Amy, with a reproving look at the long figure stretched on the rug. Jo immediately sat up, put her hands in her pockets, and began to whistle. "Don''t, Jo, it''s so boyish!" "That''s why I do it." "I detest rude, unladylike girls!" "I hate affected, niminy-piminy chits!" " ''Birds in their little nests agree,'' " sang Beth, the peacemaker, with such a funny face that both sharp voices softened to a laugh, and the "pecking" ended for that time. "Really, girls, you are both to blame," said Meg, beginning to lecture in her elder-sisterly fashion. "You are old enough to leave off boyish tricks, and to behave better, Josephine. It didn''t matter so much when you were a little girl; but now you are so tall, and turn up your hair, you should remember that you are a young lady." "I''m not! And if turning up my hair makes me one, I''ll wear it in two tails till I''m twenty," cried Jo, pulling off her net, and shaking down a chestnut mane. "I hate to think I''ve got to grow up, and be Miss March, and wear long gowns, and look as prim as a China aster! It''s bad enough to be a girl, anyway, when I like boys'' games and work and manners! I can''t get over my disappointment in not being a boy; and it''s worse than ever now, for I''m dying to go and fight with Papa, and I can only stay at home and knit, like a poky old woman!" And Jo shook the blue army sock till the needles rattled like castanets, and her ball bounded across the room. "Poor Jo! It''s too bad, but it can''t be helped. So you must try to be contented with making your name boyish, and playing brother to us girls," said Beth, stroking the rough head at her knee with a hand that all the dishwashing and dusting in the world could not make ungentle in its touch. "As for you, Amy," continued Meg, "you are altogether too particular and prim. Your airs are funny now, but you''ll grow up an affected little goose, if you don''t take care. I like your nice manners and refined ways of speaking, when you don''t try to be elegant. But your absurd words are as bad as Jo''s slang." "If Jo is a tomboy and Amy a goose, what am I, please?" asked Beth, ready to share the lecture. "You''re a dear, and nothing else," answered Meg warmly; and no one contradicted her, for the "Mouse" was the pet of the family. As young readers like to know "how people look," we will take this moment to give them a little sketch of the four sisters, who sat knitting away in the twilight, while the December snow fell quietly without, and the fire crackled cheerfully within. It was a comfortable old room, though the carpet was faded and the furniture very plain; for a good picture or two hung on the walls, books filled the recesses, chrysanthemums and Christmas roses bloomed in the windows, and a pleasant atmosphere of home peace pervaded it. Margaret, the eldest of the four, was sixteen, and very pretty, being plump and fair, with large eyes, plenty of soft, brown hair, a sweet mouth, and white hands, of which she was rather vain. Fifteen-year-old Jo was very tall, thin, and brown, and reminded one of a colt, for she never seemed to know what to do with her long limbs, which were very much in her way. She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, and sharp, gray eyes, which appeared to see everything, and were by turns fierce, funny, or thoughtful. Her long, thick hair was her one beauty, but it was usually bundled into a net, to be out of her way. Round shoulders had Jo, big hands and feet, a flyaway look to her clothes, and the uncomfortable appearance of a girl who was rapidly shooting up into a woman and didn''t like it. Elizabeth-or Beth, as everyone called her-was a rosy, smooth-haired, bright-eyed girl of thirteen, with a shy manner, a timid voice, and a peaceful expression which was seldom disturbed. Her father called her "Little Tranquillity," and the name suited her excellently, for she seemed to live in a happy world of her own, only venturing out to meet the few whom she trusted and loved. Amy, though the youngest, was a most important person-in her own opinion at least. A regular snow maiden, with blue eyes, and yellow hair curling on her shoulders, pale and slender, and always carrying herself like a young lady mindful of her manners. What the characters of the four sisters were we will leave to be found out. The clock struck six and, having swept up the hearth, Beth put a pair of slippers down to warm. Somehow the sight of the old shoes had a good effect upon the girls, for Mother was coming, and everyone brightened to welcome her. Meg stopped lecturing, and lighted the lamp, Amy got out of the easy chair without being asked, and Jo forgot how tired she was as she sat up to hold the slippers nearer to the blaze. "They are quite worn out. Marmee must have a new pair." "I thought I''d get her some with my dollar," said Beth. "No, I shall!" cried Amy. "I''m the oldest," began Meg, but Jo cut in with a decided- "I''m the man of the family now Papa is away, and I shall provide the slippers, for he told me to take special care of Mother while he was gone." "I''ll tell you what we''ll do," said Be

Description for Sales People

Coincides with the release of the major new film adaption on the 25th of December 2019. The film is directed by Greta Gerwig, starring Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothee Chalamet, and Laura De This gorgeous new edition includes an introduction by Regina Barreca, and an afterword by Susan Straight. The second volume of Little Women will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2019 as well.

Details ISBN0593198026 Author Susan Straight Pages 528 Year 2019 ISBN-10 0593198026 ISBN-13 9780593198025 Language English Publication Date 2019-11-19 UK Release Date 2019-11-19 Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2019-11-19 NZ Release Date 2019-11-19 US Release Date 2019-11-19 Audience Age 9-12 Publisher Random House USA Inc Format Paperback Imprint Bantam Press DEWEY 813.4 Audience General We've got this

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