Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
A Canadian woman reminisces about a classic American tale.
When you read Little Women as a young Canadian, a lot of it goes over your head.
Thanks to Jill Browne, guest writer, writer of Accessible Travel in Outdoor & Adventure on Suite101.com.
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As a Canadian child, I did not know much – anything – about the United States, period, when I read Little Women.
Americans who read the classic story of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy will at least understand the significance of the war and the father's absence. When I was a little girl growing up in Canada – and I expect I was about eight when I read this book for the first time – I didn't know there had been a Civil War in the USA. I didn't really understand why the dad was away. That must seem strange to Americans, given that the Civil War is such a defining moment in US history.
What I couldn't understand was, if the March family had such wealthy relatives and neighbours, why were they always scrambling to make ends meet? Looking back – and it's been years since I've looked at the book – it seems to me that Marmee and the girls weren't really destitute, but they had a serious cash flow problem, and pride stood in the way of accepting much help. But as we all know, there were a few good fairies in their midst.
I cried when Beth died, and like every other reader, I was completely baffled when Jo declined to marry Laurie. The line I remember best out of the whole book was when Jo cut off her hair to sell it. She returns home to the loving arms of her family to be greeted with, "Jo! Your hair! Your one beauty!" Had I been Jo (and of course, we all wanted to be, didn't we?), that comment would have been enough to send me down to the local pub for a pint with the hair money.
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