The four March sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy — grow up in genteel poverty during the Civil War, chasing love, art, and independence.
Books mentioned in Little Women (13)
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan: “I was thinking about our '_Pilgrim's Progress_'," answered Beth, who had not heard a word.”
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens: “as all of the girls admired Dickens, they called themselves the Pickwick Club.”
Undine and Sintram by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué: “So am I," added Jo, slapping the pocket wherein reposed the long-desired _Undine and Sintram_.”
The Heir of Redclyffe by Charlotte M. Yonge: “answered a husky voice from above, and, running up, Meg found her sister eating apples and crying over the Heir of Redclyffe, wrapped up in a comforter on an old three-legged sofa by the sunny window.”
The Wide, Wide World by Susan Warner: “Jo spent the morning on the river with Laurie and the afternoon reading and crying over _The Wide, Wide World_, up in the apple tree.”
Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: “Meg went back to toast her feet and read _Ivanhoe_, and Jo began to dig paths with great energy.”
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith: “She never finds herself very soon, so the minute her cap began to bob like a top-heavy dahlia, I whipped the _Vicar of Wakefield_ out of my pocket, and read away, with one eye on him and one on Aunt.”
Rasselas by Samuel Johnson: “Laurence seemed to suspect that something was brewing in her mind, for after taking several brisk turns about the room, he faced round on her, speaking so abruptly that Rasselas tumbled face downward on the floor.”
Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle: “She had never read Sartor Resartus, but she had a womanly instinct that clothes possess an influence more powerful over many than the worth of character or the magic of manners.”
Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller: “Here is Schiller's Mary Stuart and a tutor who loves to teach."”
Belsham's Essays by William Belsham: “… and she had to leave her paradise to wind yarn, wash the poodle, or read Belsham's Essays by the hour together.”
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: “say to us, as old Chloe did in _Uncle Tom_, 'Tink ob yer marcies, chillen!'”
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: “A chanting cherub adorned the cover of the sugar bucket, and attempts to portray Romeo and Juliet supplied kindling for some time.”
Books that mention Little Women (11)
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller: “I loved "Little Women" because it gave me a sense of kinship with girls and boys who could see and hear.”
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Among other things he read: “Little Women” (twice)”
Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Oh, please don't quote 'Little Women'! cried Marjorie impatiently”
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster: “Tennyson's poems and Vanity Fair and Kipling's Plain Tales and--don't laugh--Little Women”
So Big by Edna Ferber: “I was going to be like Jo in Louisa Alcott’s book.”
How to Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis: “It’s the same story with Little Women.”
Just Kids by Patti Smith: “Jo, the tomboy of the four March sisters in Little Women, writes to help support her family, struggling to make ends meet during the Civil War.”
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante: “Meanwhile, however, with the money from Don Achille, she bought a book: Little Women.”