little women and little men louisa may alcott

It would follow then that the book would be written more with them in mind. When Louisa heard the news she immediately sat down to write Little Men so as to support her nephews, Freddy and Johnny, with its sales. Louisa and May were in Europe at the time, taking the Grand Tour. Little Men was written as the result of the sudden death of Anna’s husband John Pratt. Why the book was written John Pratt, husband to Anna, father to Fred and John Louisa was indeed a professional writer with a keen understanding of what sells, but she was independent too. Obviously the sisters are grown women now with their own lives but I would have thought she would have placated her fans with more about the sisters. Some distance from Little Women has helped me to better appreciate the charm of Little Men although it did leave me wondering why Louisa chose to go this way with her sequel. It was the chemistry of the Fellowship that made the story special for me, just as the sisterhood of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy made Little Women special. The magic of the story was lost for me after the first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring, because the Fellowship split up and went in different directions. It reminds me of the experience of reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. Instead, it concentrates more on the boys and girls of Plumfield rather than Jo and Professor Bhaer (and after twelve chapters, I’ve seen little or no reference to the other main characters of Little Women with exception of Laurie). I’ve had problems reading Little Men in the past because I had assumed it would be an extension of Little Women. Keeps my mind off of my aching joints and bones! Listening to Little Men as opposed to reading it has given me a chance to take a step backward and see the story as a stand-alone work. The audio book version from has actually been my companion while doing yard work and gardening these past few Saturdays. As mentioned in a previous post about the art of domesticity, I have been reading Little Men, or Life at Plumfield with Jo’s Boys.

Little women and little men louisa may alcott