Mrs. Twist Reads This is kicking off 2019 with a goal to read at least three classic novels and I am super excited! One of our members proposed the idea to me that she wanted to try reading the classics and I thought it was a perfect way to expand our reach in helping our members grow in their reading. I passed around this list 25 Must-Read Classics for Women from Modern Mrs. Darcy and took a vote on which book to start with first. So in January, join us in reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888).
Little Women was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Alcott wrote the books rapidly over several months at the request of her publisher. The novel follows the lives of four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March—detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood, and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters. Little Women was an immediate commercial and critical success, and readers demanded to know more about the characters. Alcott quickly completed a second volume (entitled Good Wives in the United Kingdom, although this name derived from the publisher and not from Alcott). It was also successful. The two volumes were issued in 1880 in a single work entitled Little Women. Alcott also wrote two sequels to her popular work, both of which also featured the March sisters: Little Men (1871) and Jo’s Boys (1886). Although Little Women was a novel for girls, it differed notably from the current writings for children, especially girls. The novel addressed three major themes: “domesticity, work, and true love, all of them interdependent and each necessary to the achievement of its heroine’s individual identity.”
We will meet on Tuesday, January 29 at 7 p.m. to discuss the book. I am hoping to find some fun activities to do around the book at our meeting. This will be a different read than we normally do and I expect it will be challening to get through. But, we will give it our best try. The last time I attempted little women was 18 years ago when I brought Miss Bee home from the hospital and I was determined to be the best mother possible by reading to her every single day even at one week old. What book did I pick – Little Women! The things we do when we are shiny, brand new moms.
If you’d like to join our bookclub, we’d love to have you. Just go to BookMovement to set up a free account and use this invitation link to join. Even if you don’t live local to our monthly meetings, but want accountability to read, we’d love to have you be in our group. We are alot of fun, eat yummy snacks and drink delicious sips.
Cheers to new reads, fun and adventure in 2019!
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
