Titles in This Set: 1. Little Women 2. Little Men 3. Jo's Boys 4. Good Wives Description: Little Women ...for love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride.' The cult classic tale of four sisters, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott has remained both beloved and relevant through the ages. Set in New England, in the backdrop of the Civil War, it chronicles the lives of Jo, Beth, Meg and Amy-wildly different in temperament and interests, yet united by their love for each other and for their family and their struggles to survive and make their way in an ever-changing world. Exploring themes of love, friendship, class and gender struggles - the book goes from light-hearted to serious, and back, but always with warmth at the heart of it all. Little Men Close on the heels of Little Women came American author Louisa May Alcott's Little Men, published in 1871. Two homeless boys from Boston find themselves at Plumfield, a rural boarding school run by Jo and her husband, Mr Bhaer. From boisterous pillow fights on designated Saturdays to learning how to run a business, life at Plumfield is an unconventional but effective education at all times. Every child, treated as an individual, is given the room to blossom as a personality in their own right. Whether fun or frolic or moments of sadness, life at the hostel is never dull. The essence of what Jo and her husband are trying to do is summed up succinctly in these words - If men and women would only trust, understand, and help one another as my children do, what a capital place the world would be!" Jo's Boys With Little Women, Louisa May Alcott introduced the fabulous March sisters. Their growing up years are captured beautifully in Good Wives and later in Little Men, where Jo marries Mr Bhaer and finds herself the caretaker of a houseful of lively children at Plumfield School. Jo's Boys revisit Plumfield after ten years and recall adventures of their own. Jo's motherly nature is evident while flashes of the young and rebellious Jo also crop up. The powerful depiction of the safe haven where the children can return at any time, where all dreams are respected and all flaws accepted, this is a bittersweet story that beautifully ends the Little Women series. Good Wives Good Wives, part two of the hugely popular Little Women by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, is a coming-of-age novel. For Meg. Jo, Amy and Beth, life unfolds in unique ways. There are gentle, low-key love stories, some humour, and a very sad, passing way of one of the sisters. The enduring appeal of this novel is its vivid depiction. of its 19th-century time period. In this idyllic world, matters of the heart reign supreme and the reader looks forward to the outcome - Will Laurie be able to accept Amy in his heart: instead of Jo? Will Meg learn to balance motherhood with her wifely duties or lose her husband to the attractive Mrs Scott? Will Mr. Bhaer work up the courage to ask Jo to marry him?
