Review by laurenleigh - Little Women

laurenleigh 's review for:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

4.5

lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Though I’m very familiar with this story through the recent movie version and abridged copies in my childhood (Great Illustrated Classics, anyone??), this was actually my first time reading the full text. Parts of it are sweet and simple, reading like the “girl’s book” it was proposed to be by Alcott’s publishers. But there’s a lot more depth than I expected! I found myself relating to all the sisters in different ways. Like here I was, thinking “oh what quaint little problems they have, nothing like my life today.” And then after I had a stressful day and ended up crying over yet another failed loaf of bread, I read the scene where Meg and John get into a fight because she couldn’t make currant jam! Sometimes it really is the little things that push you over the edge. I also truly enjoyed reading into the subtext of Jo’s character. In Greta Gerwig’s 2019 film, Jo’s queerness is definitely explored, but I now see they didn’t have to dig deep to find the source material to support this. Jo talks about wishing she weren’t born a girl, has trouble seeing herself married, and has much more fun “romping” around with Laurie (platonically!) than dressing up in frills. From the admittedly little research I’ve done, it seems highly plausible Alcott herself could have identified as queer, if there was space for her to do so in her time.

Content Warnings