Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Alcott wrote the book over several months at the request of her publisher. Following the lives of the four March sisters--Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy--the novel details their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters. Little Women was an immediate commercial and critical success, with readers demanding to know more about the characters. Alcott quickly completed a second volume (titled Good Wives in the United Kingdom, although this name originated from the publisher and not from Alcott). It was also successful. The two volumes were issued in 1880 as a single novel titled Little Women.

時は十九世紀半ば、アメリカの片田舎に、戦地に赴いた父の不在を預かる優しい母と、四姉妹の一家があった。美しく聡明な長女メグ、奔放で空想好きな次女ジョー、内気で優しい三女ベス、愛らしく夢見がちな四女エイミー。貧しいけれど仲睦まじく幸せに暮らすこの四姉妹が、様々な困難にあいながらも、個性を輝かせ、大人の女性に成長してゆくさまを、美しい絵巻のように描き出した、オルコット女史の自伝的傑作小説。