All of this goes a long way toward proving Rioux’s argument that Little Women is a “living text.” The last part of the section is devoted to stories that girls connect with today, of how these stories (including TV shows) are (or are not) like Little Woman, some being direct descendants of this illustrious ancestor. The analysis of each March sister’s different path to womanhood was likely my favorite part, especially in relation to Beth. The last section, ‘A Classic for Today', starts off with male reactions to the work and gives a strong case for the benefits of boys reading stories about girls. In the next section, ‘The Life of a Classic’, Rioux delves into the “afterlife” of Little Woman, its adaptations to stage (the first of an earlier date than I expected) and screen and how the novel made its way from being considered a book that all, including male adults, would read to being taught in classrooms to its marginalization as just a girls’ book and its banishment from classrooms, or even serious discussion, until new-wave feminists, driven by the unearthing of Alcott’s sensation fiction, “rediscovered” it. I also appreciated the discussion of the various illustrators the work has had, as well as a few examples of some of their art. I didn’t think I’d learn anything new in this section, but that was not the case at all. The first section, ‘The Making of a Classic’, gives a brief history of how and why Little Woman came to be and of its instant fame. (150 years! It’s hard to believe that a book I started loving as a child and that’s still relevant today was written that long ago.) Even if you’re not a Little Women aficionado, there’s a lot to learn here about societal, educational and cultural trends (just to name a few topics) of the past 150 years. This was a joy to read and I hated to see it end.
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