24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
New highs and new lows, March 4, 2002
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.
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14 of 14 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
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.
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