I had not realized that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the
publication of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. It was the first
chapter book I ever read on my own--the first time took three months,
but thereafter I must have read it a dozen times.Not only did I identify with would-be writer Jo, I was strongly affected by the politics of the book. The girls' father was off acting as a chaplain for Union forces during the Civil War, and obviously deeply involved in a great moral combat. There is not a lot about the war in the story, but the great cause of Abolition in the background fueled my growing concern about equality and the importance of acting as a good citizen. A very great and influential book, for me at least.
So I'm looking forward to reading a new book by Anne Boyd Rioux “Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters.” I think I'll also see that my eight year old granddaughter gets a copy for Christmas.
(This illustration is from the edition I was given: so evocative of an era, both when the story took place and when this edition was published.)
