Good Wives [Hardcover]

Louisa May Alcott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1981

This is the second story about the March family. Three years on from "Little Women", the March girls and their friend Laurie are young adults with their futures ahead of them. Although they all face painful trials along the way - from Meg's sad lesson in housekeeping to Laurie's disappointment in love and a tragedy which touches them all - each of the girls finally finds happiness, if not always in the way they expect.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

In the continuing story of the March sisters, the "little women" grow up and marry, providing much occasion for advice on how to be a "womanly woman," and focus on the pleasures of being poor. King renders a fully characterized reading of this period piece. She gracefully adjusts her voice to the many personalities and easily differentiates characters. Her dramatics accentuate the spirit of the text and invoke the days when reading aloud was a primary form of entertainment. E.L.C. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Smithmark Pub (February 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0706415639
• ISBN-13: 978-0706415636
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,295,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New highs and new lows, March 4, 2002

By 

"kaia_espina" (Quezon City, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good Wives (Hardcover)

Though "Little Men" was the first of the March family books that I read, when I was around seven, I was just as easily drawn by and to "Little Women". Not so with "Good Wives", the second book in the series (or "Jo's Boys", the last book, for that matter).

For a long time, there was something about "Good Wives" that I did not like, but could not name. Now that I am in college, learning from and loving this novel for the first time, I know exactly what was once so off-putting to me: "Good Wives" is about changing and growing up--things that were completely alien to me in elementary school.

In this book, Meg struggles to be a poor man's wife and a good mother--tasks more trying than being a dutiful daughter and a kind older sister. Jo learns to hold her "abominable tongue" (a slight disappointment, admittedly) and aspires to be more like Beth. Amy comes to terms with money, her limitations, and what she really wants from life. Laurie drops his rascal's streak and resolves to become more serious. In the saddest twist of the story, Beth dies.

The things that happen to the March girls (and the Laurence boy) are no longer the happy sketches of youthful scrapes, pranks and plays. By the second chapter, "The First Wedding", the first of them sets foot in the world of grown-ups, where actions have long-term consequences and one must make life-defining choices on one's own. The events in these books are sobering life experiences.

Much of "Good Wives" is made up of lengthy narrations--many passages quite preachy--that mostly illustrate what life-changing epiphanies the characters are having. Side by side with descriptions of the setting, background and new characters, are descriptions of life's crossroads. The characters also no longer bump into each other as much as before (except in certain delightful chapters); afer all, they _are_ learning to leave the nest and fly to where life is calling. "Good Wives" is also a novel filled with goodbyes.

Despite my initial dislike of this book and its more serious, sober air (though the chapter "Daisy and Demi" does give a hint of the frolicsome things to come in "Little Men"), I give it Five Stars because of the way it probed deeper: it explored not only the intricacies of family ties, friendships, and first loves, but also the characters relationships to the world, to society, and to themselves. Ultimately, though the innocent joys of childhood become completely lost to Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, and Laurie, the five earn a new happiness--something closer to glory.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Caution! This book is simply Part II of Little Women, September 30, 2007

By 

Margaret Patten (TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good Wives (Paperback)

This is a great book, and my favorite part of Little Women. It covers the part when Jo goes to New York and meets Professor Bhaer. However, when I ordered "Good Wives" I thought it was a sequel that I hadn't read before. Instead I found that it was a poorly bound and poorly copied (e.g. faint print that's hard to read) copy of Part II of the book Little Women. If you have the novel Little Women you already have "Good Wives." I sat the books down side by side and compared them, and they are identical. I'm confused why everyone is referring to this as a sequel to Little Women, unless perhaps when Little Women first came out it ended when the father came home from the war, and maybe Part II was originally printed in a separate volume?

However, every copy I've ever picked up of Little Women nowadays already has Part II in it, so if you have Little Women I'd advise you not to waste your money on this.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Devine Book, August 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Wives: Little Women, Part 2 (Puffin Classics) (Paperback)

This my favourite book in the series. With all the unexpected twists in an amazing plot I can see why Louisa May Alccott is so popular I am 14 and have just finished yr10 at high school and completed an Author review for english where I had to read all the books written by 1 author and I found that this was easily my favourite of the Little women series.