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In May 1868, Alcott wrote in her journal: "Niles, partner of Roberts, asked me to write a girl's book. I said I'd try." [8] :36 Alcott set her novel in an imaginary Orchard House modeled on her own residence of the same name, where she wrote the novel. [4] :xiii She later recalled that she did not think she could write a successful book for girls and did not enjoy writing it. [9] :335- "I plod away," she wrote in her diary, "although I don't enjoy this sort of things." [8] :37 Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, The Alcotts". Nancy Porter Productions, Inc. 2015.

The Kirkes – Mrs. Kirke is a friend of Mrs. March's who runs a boarding house in New York. She employs Jo as governess to her two daughters, Kitty and Minnie. These attributes, in spite of poverty and the strict integrity, which shut him out from the more worldly successes, attracted to him many admirable persons, as naturally as sweet herbs draw bees, and as naturally he gave them the honey into which fifty years of hard experience had distilled no bitter drop. Earnest young men found the gray-headed scholar as young at heart as they; thoughtful or troubled women instinctively brought their doubts and sorrows to him, sure of finding the gentlest sympathy, the wisest counsel; sinners told their sins to the pure-hearted old man, and were both rebuked and saved; gifted men found a companion in him; ambitious men caught glimpses of nobler ambitions than their own; and even worldlings confessed that his beliefs were beautiful and true, although “they wouldn’t pay.” Miss Norton – A friendly, well-to-do tenant living in Mrs. Kirke's boarding house. She occasionally invites Jo to accompany her to lectures and concerts. Cheever, Susan (2006). American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-6461-7.

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That’s a housewifely taste which I am glad to see. I had a young friend who set up housekeeping with six sheets, but she had finger bowls for company, and that satisfied her,” said Mrs. March, patting the damask tablecloths, with a truly feminine appreciation of their fineness. Margaret & John Laurence Brooke ("Daisy" and "Demijohn/Demi") – Meg's twin son and daughter. Daisy is named after both Meg and Marmee, while Demi is named for John and the Laurence family. Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She also spent her life active in such reform movements as temperance and women's suffrage. [5] She died from a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, just two days after her father had died. Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A. M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge. [4] As an adult, Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist. In 1860, Alcott began writing for the Atlantic Monthly. When the Civil War broke out, she served as a nurse in Union Hospital in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C., for six weeks in 1862–1863. [11] She intended to serve three months as a nurse, but she contracted typhoid fever and became deathly ill halfway through her service, although she eventually recovered. Her letters home—revised and published in the Boston anti-slavery paper Commonwealth and collected as Hospital Sketches (1863, republished with additions in 1869) [11]—brought her first critical recognition for her observations and humor. [21] This was her first book and was inspired by her army experience. [22] She wrote about the mismanagement of hospitals, the indifference and callousness of some of the surgeons she encountered, and her passion for seeing the war firsthand. [23] Her main character, Tribulation Periwinkle, shows a passage from innocence to maturity and is a "serious and eloquent witness". [8] Her novel Moods (1864), based on her own experience, was also promising. [24]

Myerson, Joel; Shealy, Daniel; Stern, Madeleine B. (1989). The Journals of Louisa May Alcott. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-59362-1. Franklin, Rosemary F., "Louisa May Alcott's Father(s) and 'The Marble Woman'" in ATQ (The American Transcendental Quarterly) Vol. 13, No. 4 (1999).

Everything was done at last, even to Amy’s arranging different colored soaps to match the different colored rooms, and Beth’s setting the table for the first meal. Beth, 13 when the story starts, is described as kind, gentle, sweet, shy, quiet, honest and musical. She is the shyest March sister and the pianist of the family. [20] :53 Infused with quiet wisdom, she is the peacemaker of the family and gently scolds her sisters when they argue. [21] As her sisters grow up, they begin to leave home, but Beth has no desire to leave her house or family. She is especially close to Jo: when Beth develops scarlet fever after visiting the Hummels, Jo does most of the nursing and rarely leaves her side. Beth recovers from the acute disease but her health is permanently weakened.

Powell, K. (n.d.). Louisa May Alcott Family Tree and Genealogy – ThoughtCo.. Retrieved March 20, 2018 [ permanent dead link] A tall, broad-shouldered young fellow, with a cropped head, a felt basin of a hat, and a flyaway coat, came tramping down the road at a great pace, walked over the low fence without stopping to open the gate, straight up to Mrs. March, with both hands out, and a hearty:

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Eiselein, Gregory; Phillips, Anne K., eds. (2001). The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press; online in ebrary, also available in print ed. ISBN 0-313-30896-9. OCLC 44174106. Are you satisfied? Does it seem like home, and do you feel as if you should be happy here?” asked Mrs. March, as she and her daughter went through the new kingdom, arm in arm for just then they seemed to cling together more tenderly than ever. Showalter, Elaine (March 1, 2004). "Moor, Please: New books on the Bronte phenomenon". Slate . Retrieved December 25, 2022.

Morning-Glories and Other Stories (1867) Eight fantasy stories and four poems for children, including: *"A Strange Island", (1868); * "The Rose Family: A Fairy Tale" (1864), "A Christmas Song", "Morning Glories", "Shadow-Children", "Poppy's Pranks", "What the Swallows did", "Little Gulliver", "The Whale's story", "Goldfin and Silvertail". Humanity, Said Edgar Allan Poe, Is Divided Into Men, Women, And Margaret Fuller". American Heritage . Retrieved December 28, 2022. Alberghene, Janice M., and Beverly Lyon Clark, editors. Little Women and the Feminist Imagination: Criticism, Controversy, Personal Essays. Garland, 2014.Amy is the youngest sister and baby of the family; she’s 12 when the story begins. Interested in art, she is described as a "regular snow-maiden" with curly golden hair and blue eyes, "pale and slender" and "always carrying herself" like a proper young lady. She is the artist of the family. [22] Often coddled because she is the youngest, Amy can behave in a vain and self-centered way, though she does still love her family. [23] :5 She has the middle name Curtis, and is the only March sister to use her full name rather than a diminutive. [24] Hirschhorn, N.; Greaves, I. A. (2007). "Louisa May Alcott: her mysterious illness". Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. National Library of Medicine. 50 (2): 243–259. doi: 10.1353/pbm.2007.0019. PMID 17468541. S2CID 26383085 . Retrieved December 28, 2022. Josephine Brooke ("Josy" or "Josie") – Meg's youngest child, named after Jo. She develops a passion for acting as she grows up.