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Reader discussion: Little Women

Public reader discussion about Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

Little Women

By owlcreek33

Hi, I know this is kind of a strange question, and I’m probably going to sound ridiculous, but I’m asking just in case. I’ve just started reading *Little Women* and I’m really enjoying it, but I do know the ending has death in it. I’ve also seen bits of the 2019 movie, so I’m not totally clueless about what happens. My question is: what chapters actually deal with that? I have pretty bad anxiety and I’d like to avoid anything that might trigger me. I was thinking of only reading the first half, but then I’d miss too much, and I’m sure not every part of the second half is sad. If someone can tell me which chapters are the really sad ones, I can plan around them. Thanks in advance :)

Do you have any unpopular opinions about the characters and relationships in Little Women?

By Precheck-Bookish10

Okay, I’m just gonna rant for a sec. I was rewatching Friends again and the whole thing with Rachel spoiling the book for Joey made me spiral. In the book it says Laurie proposes to Jo and Jo turns him down even though she still has feelings… and then Laurie ends up marrying Amy. But I can’t help feeling like the book (and maybe Rachel too) got the vibe wrong. It feels like Joey was also reading it wrong. The book even basically goes, “Jo has a crush on Laurie,” but to me it read more like she really wanted a close friendship, not like romantic love. And honestly, I don’t think Jo ever loved Laurie in that way. Now here’s my slightly controversial take: I think Laurie and Jo would’ve actually been a really good couple. They’d probably fight sometimes, sure, but they seem more compatible than Laurie and Amy. I don’t really have solid proof either—I might just be biased because I’m not a fan of Amy. (Also, nope, I haven’t gotten over her burning the manuscript.) And another one that doesn’t really click for me is Meg and Mr. Brooke. I know people like them, but I just don’t feel it, sorry. That said, out of the three relationships, Jo and the professor is probably the best one overall. So yeah… what unpopular opinions do you guys have?

Women Writers Book Club recommendations??

By MistRestless2003

Sorry in advance for the long one 😅 but I run a monthly Women Writers Book Club out of my local library and we’ve been meeting since Jan 2022. The only rule is the author has to be a woman, and I try to mix up genres/styles as much as I can. I’m making the 2025 list and I’m stuck in a way I honestly didn’t expect—like, I cannot think of anything to add for the later part of the year. Can you guys throw out suggestions for books by women that would work for a discussion? Here’s what we’ve already read, plus the ones already picked for 2025 (so I don’t repeat stuff): Already read: - A Room of One’s Own — Virginia Woolf - Becoming — Michelle Obama - The Poisonwood Bible — Barbara Kingsolver - Somebody’s Daughter — Ashley C. Ford - Jane Eyre — Charlotte Brontë - Wide Sargasso Sea — Jean Rhys - It Ends With Us — Colleen Hoover - I’ll Give You The Sun — Jandy Nelson - Persuasion — Jane Austen - Once and Future Witches — Alix Harrow - The Bluest Eye — Toni Morrison - Circe — Madeline Miller - Crying in H Mart — Michelle Zauner - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo — Taylor Jenkins Reid - Cultish — Amanda Montell - The Bell Jar — Sylvia Plath - Black Cake — Charmaine Wilkerson - Emma — Jane Austen - The Handmaid’s Tale — Margaret Atwood - I’m Glad My Mom Died — Jennette McCurdy - Mexican Gothic — Silvia Moreno-Garcia - The Paris Apartment — Lucy Foley - Everything I Know About Love — Dolly Alderton - Their Eyes Were Watching God — Zora Neale Hurston - Five Little Indians — Michelle Good - Know My Name — Chanel Miller - Homegoing — Yaa Gyasi - Kindred — Octavia Butler - Wordslut — Amanda Montell - Pride and Prejudice — Jane Austen - Funny Story — Emily Henry - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks — Rebecca Skloot - The Color Purple — Alice Walker - And Then There Were None — Agatha Christie - Yellowface — R.F. Kuang - The Book of Rosy — Rosayra Pablo Cruz & Julie Schwietert Collazo Already picked / club picks for 2025: - By Any Other Name — Jodi Picoult - Firekeeper’s Daughter — Angeline Boulley - Loud — Drew Afualo - Pachinko — Min Jin Lee - Olga Dies Dreaming — Xochitl Gonzalez - Sense and Sensibility — Jane Austen - Americanah — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - The Unmaking of June Farrow — Adrienne Young - The Haunting of Hill House — Shirley Jackson WHEW. TL;DR: I need help picking new women-authored books for the rest of 2025—what should we read?

[SPOILERS] Little Women question with spoilers and potential spoilers for Good Wives.

By motionGoose

Just finished *Little Women* and I really loved it. But I’m kinda lost about one thing. In *Friends*, Rachel tells Joey that Beth dies and that Laurie ends up marrying Amy. In my copy, everything’s fine right after Christmas—everyone’s together again, Meg is engaged to Mr. Brooke, Beth is still alive (she had scarlet fever but doesn’t die), and Amy is nowhere near old enough to marry. So… what’s going on? I kept waiting for Beth’s death while she was sick, and then I expected the ending to jump forward a few years to show how everything turns out with their marriages. I know there’s another book, *Good Wives*, so maybe that’s where those things happen, but then why would it be talked about like it all happens in *Little Women*? I do want to watch the movies, but I’m scared I’ll run into even more “spoilers” that weren’t in the book, and that the whole experience is going to feel ruined a bit because I’m just sitting there waiting for stuff I would’ve preferred not to know about in the first place.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

By ShadowSwan8

I’ve been wanting to read *Little Women* for ages, but I can’t figure out which exact version to buy. I checked on Amazon and Flipkart, and the listings are kinda confusing. From what I’m seeing online, the full story was released in two parts. The copy I found is a paperback by Vintage Classics, but the reviews contradict each other—some people say it’s the complete unabridged edition, and others say it’s only part 1 (and that the rest is *Good Wives*). So I’m not sure whether I should just get this one or not. If it turns out to be only the first part, what’s the name of the second book? Could someone please point me to the complete edition, or tell me the sequel/part two title if there is one?