Little Women (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
The beloved story of the March girls is a classic American novel, telling the story of four sisters: independent, tomboyish Jo; delicate, loving Beth; pretty, kind Meg; and precocious, beautiful Amy, the baby of the family. The charming story of these four "little women" and their wise and patient mother Marmee enduring hardships and enjoying adventures in Civil War New England was an instant success when first published in 1868 and has been adored for generations.
Bringing together traditional handicraft with cutting-edge book design, the Penguin Threads series has already created a huge buzz among the art and book-collecting communities. This latest set features cover art by painter and illustrator Rachell Sumpter, who brings a unique, whimsical sensibility to the Threads. With vivid colours and ambitiously intricate details, these additions to our innovative series commissioned by award-winning creative director Paul Buckley are rich works of art to be cherished and shared.
Louisa May Alcott (1832-88) was brought up in Pennsylvania, USA. She turned to writing in order to supplement the family income and had many short stories published in magazines and newspapers. Then, in 1862, during the height of the American Civil War, Louisa went to Georgetown to work as a nurse, but she contracted typhoid. Out of her experiences she wrote Hospital Sketches (1864) which won wide acclaim, followed by an adult novel, Moods.
She was reluctant to write a children's book but then realized that in herself and her three sisters she had the perfect models. The result was Little Women (1868) which became the earliest American children's novel to become a classic.