Little Women

Title: Little Women
Author: Louisa May Alcott
861 pages digital version 
First published in 1868 
Genre: Classic historical fiction
Book description: Little Women is the heartwarming story of the March family that has thrilled generations of readers. It is the story of four sisters--Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth-- and of the courage, humor and ingenuity they display to survive poverty and the absence of their father during the Civil War. 

This is a classic and has been considered one of the best children stories of our time. The  story of the March girls is a classic American feminist novel, portraying the tension between cultural obligation of morally correct way to live by women and artistic and personal freedom in a world ruled by men and social standing. It is a book that should be read at least once in your lifetime. There are mixed feelings about it coming to me from different sources, some people feel that the story in itself really sends the wrong message to girls and society about the way girls should be and at the same time plenty of others love it. As amazing as it is to me, this will the very first time I'm reading it and I find it... well let's leave out our opinion for later.

Main characters are:
Margaret or Meg as her sisters called her is the eldest of thh four March sisters, 16 years old. She is described as very pretty, being plump and fair, a lovely brown hair and a little vain. 
Josephine or Jo was the second March girl, 15 years old, she was tall, thin and brown with long thick beautiful hair. She was a bit boyish in ways, she liked to whistle and enjoyed playing boys games, also the work and manners ladylike were not her favorite. She was a decided young woman and did not care too much for the appropite ladylike hobbies or such things. She regreted being a girl and not having the opportunity of going to fight with their father or any of the other things young men could do.
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.
Amy only a twelve year old, but she thought greatly of herself,  a snow maiden, with blue eyes and blond hair; she was always carrying herself like a young lady mindful of her manners. 
Marmee the mother of these young girls, a hard working loving woman indeed. 
Laurie the shy young man who lives next door. He is charming in his own way and is not used to the manners of his country therefore sometimes comes off as rude towards others. 

This is a nice warm story about the girls everyday life, it does not have a dramatic event or turbulent times other than their poverty, the girls missing their father and the normal difficult times the middle class was facing due to economic struggles due to the fighting; which is the same to say that they do not have otherworldly hardships. 
I like the fact that it portrays the society of the time in very good way, showing the struggles of a middle class family; in the sense that they have a house maid for example therefore the girls are not forced to cook, clean or look after themselves on their own. At the same time the mother always tries to teach them to value the things they have and stop wishing-complaining about the things they lack. Marmee tries to show them to appreciate all the blessings they have by making them realize that other people are far worse off than they are, not only by giving them sermon like most mothers used to do then and even nowdays. Marmee would show them with her example to give to others who were in more need and then she would find a time to tell them stories urging them to give up being vain, selfish, ungrateful or whatever fault the girls had but she made it seem like it was happening to someone else in other to get her daughters to realize what they were doing wrong and find a way to fix it themselves. It is a very good way to raise well mannered young people. I especially appreciate two things Marmee shows to her daughters: 
1. She defends the girls right to have befriended a young man and that it does not in any way have to be in order to marry a rich man and get out of poverty. I find it refreshing considering the time it was written, well if society a few years ago still couldn't believe a friendship between members of the opposite sex, well you only have to try to imagine what people thought about it over a century ago. It was unimaginable even. 
2. Marmee mentions to her daughters that she wants them to grow up and be well wed or stay single but have self respect and happy. 
She mentions this after another family treats Meg, her oldest daughter poorly and sees her only as a poor girl trying to ge a convenient marriage. She lets them know that they(March girls) do not have to stop behaving ladylike or have hidden agendas in orther to catch a man. In other words I understood that a woman does not have to be offering herself up to attract attention, she should have self respect and a man will still come to her. She tells them that even if the husband is not rich it does not matter, happines makes a more plentiful life than a life with money and social status. Also the fact that she gives the option of staying single is amazing, back in those days that was something most mothers considered the worst fate for their daughters. It mattered not if the woman in question wished the marriage, the girls were taught that marrying was the only thing you could hope for so most were desperate to be married to a man with money despite the feelings they might hold for the man. 

It is really a nice fluffy read, it obviously has the feeling that women should end up marrying and have a nice little family, because most of the protagonists end up so; but it just gives to the story a more realistic view, afterall most parents always dream that their sons and daughters end up with their own happy family even nowdays.

I give this a 4 out of 5 stars. It was a very enjoyable read. People should read it, it has nice moral values and gives good pieces of advice to people no matter the time period they live on. Also it is a nice chance to get a look at the frivolous life people of the last century used to have and the struggles that people used to face on their everyday lives.  

As a side note, I might just go ahead and read the sequel; well I am not even sure if it is a sequel to the story or simply another piece from the same author but I will try to pick up Little men next month.