书名：Little Women 小妇人
难度：Lexile蓝思阅读指数750L
作者：Louisa May Alcott露易莎•梅•奥尔科特
出版社名称：Signet Classics
出版时间：2012
语种：英文
ISBN：9780451532084
商品尺寸：10.6x2.9x 17.3cm
包装：简装
页数：528 （以实物为准）

Little Women《小妇人》是一部大众文学中的经典励志作品，自出版以来，一直受到热烈的欢迎。曾先后被改编成戏剧、拍成电影，在世界各地上映、演出，可见其具有独特的魅力。美国图书协会、美国教育协会两会代表选入100种乡村小学的必读书，其中精选25种，《小妇人》列居25种的榜首。世界上已有数十种不同语言的译本，适合各文学爱好者品读。
本书为Signet Classics推出的英文原版，内容完整无删减，书本轻巧便携，由Regina Barecca作序，Susan Straight后记。
推荐理由：
1.Little Women《小妇人》是一本以女性角色为主，强调女权意识的半自传体小说，小说注重表现女性意识，宣扬美好品质，有较大的教育意义；
2.内容平实却细腻，笔调清新而唯美，结构单纯而寓意深远，富有强烈的感染力，是一部值得细嚼慢咽的经典作品；
3.小说的情节源自现实生活，通过细节的描写来体现家庭生活的温暖，书中场景真实而美好，扣人心弦，是不可多得的文学佳作。
所获奖项：
2003年，BBC评选出“英国人喜爱的百部小说”，《小妇人》位居第18位
2007年，美国图书协会、美国教育协会评选“一百种小学必读书籍”，《小妇人》位居榜首

Louisa May Alcott shares the innocence of girlhood and the warmth of sisterhood in this charming tale of four sisters. Responding to the need for a “girls’ book,” the little known writer was met with unexpected fame and fortune for this novel inspired by her own childhood.
In picturesque nineteenth-century New England, tomboyish Jo, beautiful Meg, fragile Beth, and romantic Amy are responsible for keeping a home while their father is off to war. At the same time, they must come to terms with their individual personalities—and make the transition from girlhood to womanhood. It can all be quite a challenge. But the March sisters, however different, are nurtured by their wise and beloved Marmee, bound by their love for each other and the feminine strength they share. Readers of all ages have fallen instantly in love with theseLittle Women. Their story transcends time—making this novel endure as a classic piece of American literature that has captivated generations of readers with their charm, innocence, and wistful insights.

With an Introduction by Regina Bareccaand an Afterword by Susan Straight

Little Women《小妇人》主要以家庭生活为描写对象，以家庭成员的感情纠葛为线索，描写了马奇一家的天伦之爱。马奇家的四姐妹中，无论是为了爱情甘于贫困的海格，还是通过自己奋斗成为作家的乔，以及坦然面对死亡的贝思和以扶弱为己任的艾米，虽然她们的理想和命运都不尽相同，但是她们都具有自强自立的共同特点，那就是她们对家庭的眷恋；对爱的忠诚以及对亲情的渴望。
Little Womenis one of the best loved books of all time. Lovely Meg, talented Jo, frail Beth, spoiled Amy: these are hard lessons of poverty and of growing up in New England during the Civil War. Through their dreams, plays, pranks, letters, illnesses, and courtships, women of all ages have become a part of this remarkable family and have felt the deep sadness when Meg leaves the circle of sisters to be married at the end of Part I. Part II, chronicles Meg’s joys and mishaps as a young wife and mother, Jo’s struggle to become a writer, Beth’s tragedy, and Amy’s artistic pursuits and unexpected romance. Based on Louise May Alcott’s childhood, this lively portrait of nineteenth-century family life possesses a lasting vitality that has endeared it to generations of readers.

Little Women《小妇人》中的名言佳句：
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
“Love covers a multitude of sins…”
“Love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy.”
“Such hours are beautiful to live, but very hard to describe…”
“I don’t like favors; they oppress and make me feel like a slave. I’d rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent.”
“Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety. It shows itself in acts rather than in words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations.”
……

路易莎·梅·奥尔科特（1832~1888），美国著名女作家，代表作Little Women《小妇人》。该书以奥尔科特的童年经历为基础创作，出版后打动了无数读者。随后，一批以她早年经历为题材的作品相继问世，包括Little Men《小男儿》（1871）、Jo’s Boys《乔的男孩们》（1886）。
Louisa May Alcott(1832-1888) was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. The family later settled in Concord, Massachusetts, where Alcott was influenced by their neighbors Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. At a young age, Louisa took on some of the family’s financial burdens and worked as a domestic, a teacher, and a writer. In 1868 and 1869, fame and fortune came with the publication ofLittle Women. During her lifetime, Alcott wrote numerous novels and was an active campaigner for temperance and women’s suffrage.
Regina Barecca, Professor of English and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut, is the editor of the influential journalLIT: Literature, Interpretation, Theory. Among her many books areThey Used to Call Me Snow White...But I Drifted, a widely acclaimed study of women’s humor, andBabes in Boyland,It’s Not That I’m Bitter..., andUntamed and Unabashed: Essays on Women and Humor in British Literature. She is also the editor ofThe Penguin Book of Women’s Humor.
Susan Straightis an award-winning fiction writer whose novelHighwire Moon, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her other novels includeAquaboogie,I Been in Sorrow’s Kitchen and Licked out All the Pots, andBlacker than a Thousand Midnights. She was born in Riverside, California, and lives there with her three daughters.

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.
“But I don’t think the little we should spend would do any good. We’ve each got a dollar, and the army wouldn’t be much helped by our giving that. I agree not to expect anything from Mother or you, but I do want to buy UNDINE AND SINTRAM for myself. I’ve wanted it so long,” said Jo, who was a bookworm.
“I planned to spend mine in new music,” said Beth, with a little sigh, which no one heard but the hearth brush and kettle holder.
“I shall get a nice box of Faber’s drawing pencils. I really need them,” said Amy decidedly.
“Mother didn’t say anything about our money, and she won’t wish us to give up everything. Let’s each buy what we want, and have a little fun. I’m sure we work hard enough to earn it,” cried Jo, examining the heels of her shoes in a gentlemanly manner.
“I know I do--teaching those tiresome children nearly all day, when I’m longing to enjoy myself at home,” began Meg, in the complaining tone again.
“You don’t have half such a hard time as I do,” said Jo.” How would you like to be shut up for hours with a nervous, fussy old lady, who keeps you trotting, is never satisfied, and worries you till you you’re ready to fly out the window or cry?”
“It’s naughty to fret, but I do think washing dishes and keeping things tidy is the worst work in the world. It makes me cross, and my hands get so stiff, I can’t practice well at all.” And Beth looked at her rough hands with a sigh that any one could hear that time.
“I don’t believe any of you suffer as I do,” cried Amy, “for you don’t have to go to school with impertinent girls, who plague you if you don’t know your lessons, and laugh at your dresses, and label your father if he isn’t rich, and insult you when your nose isn’t nice.”
“If you mean libel, I’d say so, and not talk about labels, as if Papa was a pickle bottle,” advised Jo, laughing.
“I know what I mean, and you needn’t be satirical about it. It’s proper to use good words, and improve your vocabulary,” returned Amy, with dignity.
“Don’t peck at one another, children. Don’t you wish we had the money Papa lost when we were little, Jo? Dear me! How happy and good we’d be, if we had no worries!” said Meg, who could remember better times.
“You said the other day you thought we were a deal happier than the King children, for they were fighting and fretting all the time, in spite of their money.”
“So I did, Beth. Well, I think we are. For though we do have to work, we make fun of ourselves, and are a pretty jolly set, as Jo would say.”
“Jo does use such slang words!” observed Amy, with are proving look at the long figure stretched on the rug.
Jo immediately sat up, put her hands in her pockets, and began to whistle.
“Don’t, Jo. It’s so boyish!”
“That’s why I do it.”
“I detest rude, unladylike girls!”
“I hate affected, niminy-piminy chits!”