What a fantastic book.  I realize that I should have been reading this one during junior high or high school, as an English class required reading book.  But it was never assigned to me and at that age I just did not have the interest in how should I say, books of ‘quality’.

I’m a romantic at heart and become extremely disappointed when the protagonist and their apparent match do not end up together.  I am unashamed to admit that at the end of this book I was not at all pleased with Louisa May Alcott and came away with a bit of a chip on my shoulder that Jo and Laurie did not end up together.  I do not pretend to agree with the idea of Laurie being turned away by Jo, his heart in a million pieces, and finding solace and love with her sister.  It seems absolutely unbelievable that all would be content with the rearrangement of lovers; that there would be no dissention, no jealousy, no spite or bitterness between the sisters and Laurie.

And what of Mrs. March?  Why did she persuade Jo not to love Laurie?  It irritates me that she dissuaded her and I wonder if she didn’t selfishly want Jo there, as the one with the strongest constitution in the family, to shoulder the burdens of caring for Beth and tending to her parents after Beth’s death.  I also wonder if she didn’t think more of her “baby”, Amy, and wish that Laurie would love her instead of Jo, since Amy’s passion was always to be rich, which Laurie was & would provide her, while Jo couldn’t have cared less about money.

Asides from this letdown, I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this lovely book.  Reading Little Women made me want to be a better woman and made me want to raise a better little woman.

Maybe I, too, should sacrifice & make my little Beach Rose sacrifice our breakfast one day to give to someone in need, or volunteer at a soup kitchen for a meal, or take a cherished food item of ours and hand-deliver it to the Food Bank…

And I loved the idea that necessity as well as solitude/boredom is the mother of invention.  Wouldn’t I just love to take my TV set and throw it out the window….

Create a little boredom…

Force a little creativity…

So many wonderful lessons to learn from this delightful read.  I cannot wait for my Beach Rose to get this as her reading assignment in school and to read it again alongside her!