Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Contents PART 1 CHAPTER ONE PLAYING PILGRIMS CHAPTER TWO A MERRY CHRISTMAS CHAPTER THREE THE LAURENCE BOY CHAPTER FOUR BURDENS CHAPTER FIVE BEING NEIGHBORLY CHAPTER SIX BETH FINDS THE PALACE BEAUTIFUL CHAPTER SEVEN AMY’S VALLEY OF HUMILIATION CHAPTER EIGHT JO MEETS APOLLYON CHAPTER NINE MEG GOES TO VANITY FAIR CHAPTER TEN THE P.C. AND P.O. CHAPTER ELEVEN EXPERIMENTS CHAPTER TWELVE CAMP LAURENCE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CASTLES IN THE AIR CHAPTER FOURTEEN SECRETS CHAPTER FIFTEEN A TELEGRAM CHAPTER SIXTEEN LETTERS CHAPTER SEVENTEEN LITTLE FAITHFUL CHAPTER EIGHTEEN DARK DAYS CHAPTER NINETEEN AMY’S WILL CHAPTER TWENTY CONFIDENTIAL CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE LAURIE MAKES MISCHIEF, AND JO MAKES PEACE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO PLEASANT MEADOWS CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE AUNT MARCH SETTLES THE QUESTION PART 2 CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR GOSSIP CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE THE FIRST WEDDING CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX ARTISTIC ATTEMPTS CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN LITERARY LESSONS CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT DOMESTIC EXPERIENCES CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE CALLS CHAPTER THIRTY CONSEQUENCES CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE OUR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO TENDER TROUBLES CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE JO’S JOURNAL CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR FRIEND CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE HEARTACHE CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX BETH’S SECRET CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN NEW IMPRESSIONS CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT ON THE SHELF CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE LAZY LAURENCE CHAPTER FORTY THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW CHAPTER FORTY-ONE LEARNING TO FORGET CHAPTER FORTY-TWO ALL ALONE CHAPTER FORTY-THREE SURPRISES CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR MY LORD AND LADY CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE DAISY AND DEMI CHAPTER FORTY-SIX UNDER THE UMBRELLA CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN HARVEST TIME PART 1 CHAPTER ONE PLAYING PILGRIMS “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug. “It’s so dreadful to be poor!” sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress. “I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all,” added little Amy, with an injured sniff. “We’ve got Father and Mother, and each other,” said Beth contentedly from her corner. The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, “We haven’t got Father, and shall not have him for a long time.” She didn’t say “perhaps never,” but each silently added it, thinking of Father far away, where the fighting was. Nobody spoke for a minute; then Meg said in an altered tone, “You know the reason Mother proposed not having any presents this Christmas was because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone; and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure, when our men are suffering so in the army. We can’t do much, but we can make our little sacrifices, and ought to do it gladly. But I am afraid I don’t,” and Meg shook her head, as she thought regretfully of all the pretty things she wanted.