The beautiful photograph on the front cover is only the first of many that appear throughout this delightful book. I originally purchased it as a resource for a school report on Louisa May Alcott, but soon found myself engrossed in reading every detail. The book contains information on various events and people in LMA's life, as well as her novels. In addition to a chronology of her life, it has an illustrated map of New England in the back that highlights the many places where she lived.

What a marvelous book by an author whose heart sings with this beautiful country. Every page is a delight and makes you want to move over there !

The photography is exceptional. Brings back memories of the area. Has provided inspiraton for many paintings.

This is a book with page after page of an area in France I love. It is a place I want to visit time and time again. I can almost smell the intoxicating lavender breeze as I glance at the cover. If you purchase this book as a gift, I highly recommend enclosing something that has the scent of lavender. A soap or even a drop of lavender oil on the inside cover will make this a sensory experience. While I love books filled with recipes, I could not resist this one. Oh, to be in France at this moment sitting by a lavender field. This book truly brought back memories of my trip to France and I enjoyed the information on olives as I had purchased olive oil and olives at a little sea side store in Cassis. You will be looking into plane tickets soon after reading about the rich culinary heritage of this region.

The book Little Women is truley a literature classic. This book reflects on the lives of the fictional March family as Yankees during the Civil War. While Mr. March is away fighting in the war, Mrs. March and her four daughters Margaret, 16, Josephine, 15, Elizabeth, 13, and Amy, 12 (Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy)must learn to cope while their nation is at war. The four girls must learn many lessons in life and grow up to be fine women even during hard times. The girls have many adventures and meet Laurie, a true friend for life,and share many good times together. The girls begin to marry when they face the loss of one of their sisters and their aunt. However, in true March fashion, they get through the difficult times and focus on the successes in life. This book is truley inspirational and makes you think about how you can become a better person through sharing the experiences of these girls. At times this book could run on, so that is why i rated it 4 stars, not 5. However, this book still is great and a timeless classic and Louisa May Alcott did a fine job with the book. I enjoyed the book alot.

Little Women, being one of the classics of American literature, is not surprising to be said one of the best books I have ever read. The story revolves around the home life of four close sisters and two strong, moral parents. As Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy grow up, their adventures and mishaps provide examples for any reader of all ages. As they grow up, they struggle with many ideas. First, they are constantly troubled by the necessity of being good, even when they want to be bad. Second, as they grow up, they confront different types of relationships with boys. Friendship turns into love and vice versa, making a strong theme of gender relations. The girls also struggle with the ideas of motherhood, sisterhood, pride, education, and marraige. Finally, two of the most important ideas in the novel are dreams and work. The girls spend their childhoods and adult lives trying to balance the two and fulfill both necessities. Also, throughout the book, society is explained, the harsh winters are described, and the profound work ethic of the people is portrayed to give the reader a strong sense of what it was like to be living during the 19th century. The book gives the reader some mportant guidance to people in similar circumstances in their adolescent years. The novel motivates positive decision making, looks past materialism, teaches morales, and shows us the importance of real happiness.

A timeless tale of four sisters struggling their way through life during the Civil War. I have read this book more times than I can count, and I still love it. Once I pick it up I can't put it down, lost in this seemingly fantasy world, which was actually quite true more than 100 years ago.

My favorite thing about Little Women has to be the characters. Jo, the day-dreaming tomboy, Meg, pretty and proper, Beth, the quiet sweetheart, and little Amy, our artist, who always tried to grow up too fast. Then of course there's Laurie, the tall fun-loving boy-next-door, and so many other fabulous personalities (Aunt March, Fredrick Bauer, Hannah, Marmie, etc.) that I couldn't possibly name them all.

This book is one that I think everyone absolutely MUST read some time in their life, for it teaches moral values that should be used by people of all ages. I also reccommend Little Men and Jo's Boys to follow it up.

Eight Cousins in one of my favorite books! The stories behind the pages showsuspense and brilliance in every word. Please, reader, read this book, for you wont regret it! Rose Campbell has it all: wealth, brains, beauty, and kindness, well, she has every thing but a mother. But her father is kind and cherishes her beyond love, but then suddenly Rose is an orphan at her Aunts' house. Her many aunts all want custedy of her, but finaly, she is put into the hands of her Uncle Alec for a year. Alec is a kind and simple gentleman who gets rid of Roses corsets and things and though she is aghast at such notions, she soon becomes grateful for him. Then, seven boys come into the picture, though all gentlemen, still were boys! Rose dispises boys, but must learn to get along with them for the sake of Alec, for she is ready to do every thing possible for him. But after the year, through tragety and scorn, Rose finds that she can't tear away from them. This novel is possesive and ful of suspense and I recomend it with full heart. Sincerly, a reader of this book.

When my teacher told us that we had to choose a book from her book list for our book reports, I had no idea what book to choose. After a while I finally chose this book, Eight Cousins. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down!!

The book is about the time when Rose Campbell's father died, and Rose went to live with her Aunt Peace and her Aunt Plenty , who lived in a big house on Aunt Hill, until her uncle, her legal guardian, came for her. When Rose arrived she was a very sickly & scared girl. Her aunts didn't know what to do with her, and she was surrounded by 7 loud and wild boy cousins. When her savior/guardian, Uncle Alec arrives, she puts her full trust into him, and he helps overcome her fears, & turns her into a very pretty and healthy child. It wasn't long before Rose was as happy, healthy and lively as any of her cousins.

Don't worry, I didn't give away the ending, (the back of the book tells even more than this)! As I said before, this is one of the best books I have ever read, (I even cried a little at the end!!!).

ENJOY!!!!!!

Rose is a sad little girl. Orphaned at the tender age of 13, she has been in the hands of several well-meaning but misguided aunts, all of whom are stifling her with their good intentions.

When Uncle Alec finally arrives on the scene, he vows to undue the damage done by the aunts. To that end, he demands one year to do with Rose as he will. If, at the end of that time, the results are not satisfactory to all, he will again concede control to the females.

Touching and sweet, most little girls will enjoy this book. I read it over and over as a child, and never tired of the antics of Rose's 7 boy cousins as they tried to please, entertain, and earn her favor. Reading it over again as an adult, I'd say there's nothing in this book to worry a parent. It's a good, wholesome story, and some of the lessons found inside it's pages still apply today.

It is truly a shame that the highest number of stars you can rate a book is five, because I would give this book a million stars if I could.It is truly one of the two best books I have ever read. (The other off course is Little Women).

Little men is a book that can make you both laugh and cry. The morals inside are more useful than any of the ten commandments. Louisa May Alcott has definetly done it again.

Without giving away everything, these are some of the reasons why you will enjoy the book:

1) You see Jo grow up. She is no longer the wild child who's impetuous and androgynous character often lead her to trouble. She inherits maternal qualities that you never expected Jo to have.

2) You will get more insight on the professor. Although I truly wanted Teddy and Jo to get together, this book made me think otherwise. Professor Bhaer, with Jo's help, makes a delightful father to the boys. He is the one you will get most of the life morals from.

3) The boys in Plumfield are definetly the key figures in the book. They create both the mischievious and melancholy stories. As I said, 'you'll laugh and cry'. Reading about these boys will make everyone reflect on their own lives.

4) Teddy grows up too. If you enjoyed the young scandulous Teddy, you'll enjoy the new one even more. In little men, Teddy (like Jo) has grown into a real mature father.

There are plenty more exciting things in the book. It is truly a classic masterpiece recommended to anyone who needs a lift in their spirit.

Little Men is the funniest of all the three books. I like this book, but not as much as the Jo's Boys or Little Women. Little Men begins with 'Nat as the 1st ch. If you have seen the movie and think it is great, wait till you read the book. The novel is much more sophisticated and very touching. The movie basically concentrates on Nat and Dan, but the novel is about every single boy and girl. If you've seen the movie and didnt like it, guess what, try the novel! My fav't characters are everybody. Old Chirper(Nat), Dan, Demi, Daisy, Tommy, Franz, Commodore(Emil), Nan, Princess(Bess), little Ted, Rob, Jack..too many people. If you like the story of boys and girls, this is one of the books to read. If this is the Alcott's 1st book you've read, TRY ALL! ALCOTT IS THE BEST! My fav't part is the LITTLE COOKSTOVE(iron). Its so neat, and how Daisy, Nat, Demi, Dan, Emil, Tommy, and dont forget our Teddy, and Rob, standing up for each others.

This is the continuation of Little Women, and Jo's Boys will be the cont. of this book. Little Men is a book about the boys and girls of all ages, and if you thought little women was much about women, READ THIS BOOK. The boys are all different ages. There is musical Nat, bookworm Demi, troublesome Tommy, fireband Dan(my fav't character), resonsible Franz, commodore Emil, Little Ted, Rob...and dont forget girls, Lovely Daisy, ms.giddy gaddy Nan, and pretty Bess....and so many other characters. They just will not be friends, but a great big FAMILY. They will be happy, sad, confused, angry...at each other, but will not be a problem for Mr.&Mrs. Bhaer(Jo), Mr.&Mrs. Brooke(Meg), and Mr.and Mrs. Laurence(laurie&Amy). These young men and women will be so different, yet so together and close!

Sequel seldom works but this book is better than the first one, 'cause it explores the mind of it's charecters more truthfully then the first one.Here in this book they look more real and alive.The lose of the Beth is the great one but they bear it truely, Jo's charecter comes out so vividly that it dominated the whole book. It is a delight to read.

Though "Little Men" was the first of the March family books that I read, when I was around seven, I was just as easily drawn by and to "Little Women". Not so with "Good Wives", the second book in the series (or "Jo's Boys", the last book, for that matter).

For a long time, there was something about "Good Wives" that I did not like, but could not name. Now that I am in college, learning from and loving this novel for the first time, I know exactly what was once so off-putting to me: "Good Wives" is about changing and growing up--things that were completely alien to me in elementary school.

In this book, Meg struggles to be a poor man's wife and a good mother--tasks more trying than being a dutiful daughter and a kind older sister. Jo learns to hold her "abominable tongue" (a slight disappointment, admittedly) and aspires to be more like Beth. Amy comes to terms with money, her limitations, and what she really wants from life. Laurie drops his rascal's streak and resolves to become more serious. In the saddest twist of the story, Beth dies.

The things that happen to the March girls (and the Laurence boy) are no longer the happy sketches of youthful scrapes, pranks and plays. By the second chapter, "The First Wedding", the first of them sets foot in the world of grown-ups, where actions have long-term consequences and one must make life-defining choices on one's own. The events in these books are sobering life experiences.

Much of "Good Wives" is made up of lengthy narrations--many passages quite preachy--that mostly illustrate what life-changing epiphanies the characters are having. Side by side with descriptions of the setting, background and new characters, are descriptions of life's crossroads. The characters also no longer bump into each other as much as before (except in certain delightful chapters); afer all, they _are_ learning to leave the nest and fly to where life is calling. "Good Wives" is also a novel filled with goodbyes.

Despite my initial dislike of this book and its more serious, sober air (though the chapter "Daisy and Demi" does give a hint of the frolicsome things to come in "Little Men"), I give it Five Stars because of the way it probed deeper: it explored not only the intricacies of family ties, friendships, and first loves, but also the characters relationships to the world, to society, and to themselves. Ultimately, though the innocent joys of childhood become completely lost to Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, and Laurie, the five earn a new happiness--something closer to glory.

This my favourite book in the series. With all the unexpected twists in an amazing plot I can see why Louisa May Alccott is so popular I am 14 and have just finished yr10 at high school and completed an Author review for english where I had to read all the books written by 1 author and I found that this was easily my favourite of the Little women series.

Louisa is one of the most magickal and talented artists in Massachusetts. This deck brings a magickal taste to each reading. With each reading one is transported to the realm of faeries,unicorns and beautiful places rich in symbolism,guidance and intuition. This is a fantastic deck,especially for timing of events to come. When can we purchase the book!!

Hi there! For those of you who love my deck, we have our 1st draft of the accompanying book..Thanks for all your good wishes and thanks for the lovely reviews louisa poole talisman shop rockport, ma. 10966

It's refreshing to see nature brought back to the somewhat rigid rules of the tarot. I understand a book is forthcoming about the numbers and explanations, but I love the colors, symbolism, and insights the deck imparts. The ancient tarot is the basis for all cards and it's clarifying to see some of the secrets revealed yet retaining the integrity of the original symbolism. Thanks louisa

Let's begin with Nabokov's "Lectures on Literature," where he introduces "Madame Bovary" as follows: "The book is concerned with adultery and contains situations and allusions that shocked the prudish philistine government of Napoleon III. Indeed, the novel was actually tried in a court of justice for obscenity. Just imagine that. As if the work of an artist could ever be obscene." Written over a five-year period, "Madame Bovary" was published serially in a magazine in 1856 where, despite editorial attempts to purge it of offensive material, it was cited for "offenses against morality and religion." Fortunately, Flaubert won his case and "Madame Bovary" remains to this day one of the masterpieces of French and world literature. Indeed, in Nabokov's view, the novel's influence is notable: "Without Flaubert, there would have been no Marcel Proust in France, no James Joyce in Ireland. Chekhov in Russia would not have been quite Chekhov."

The story of Emma Bovary is well known and uncomplicated. Set in the provincial towns of Tostes and Yonville (it is subtitled "Patterns of Provincial Life"), with adulterous interludes in Rouen, "Madame Bovary" narrates the life of Charles Bovary and Emma Rouault. Charles, an "officier de sante"--a licensed medical practitioner without a medical degree--meets Emma while tending to her injured father. Charles is married at that time to the first Madame Bovary, also called Madame Dubuc, a widow and thin, ugly woman who dominates the mild-mannered Charles from the very beginning. "It was his wife [Madame Dubuc] who ruled: in front of company he had to say certain things and not others, he had to eat fish on Friday, dress the way she wanted, obey her when she ordered him to dun nonpaying patients. She opened his mail, watched his every move, and listened through the thinness of the wall when there were women in his office."

When Madame Dubuc dies a few short years after their marriage, it appears that Charles is fortunate, for he is not only freed from the shrewish oppression of his wife, but enabled to court and marry the beautiful Emma. It is the eight-year marriage of Charles and Emma that embodies the tale of "Madame Bovary," a tale marked by Emma's ennui, her dissatisfaction with the unsatisfied yearnings of bourgeois marriage in a small provincial town, her steadily growing sensual insatiability, her adulteries with a series of men. It is this marriage, too, that gives us one of literature's great cuckolds, Charles Bovary.

"Madame Bovary" has often been described as a realistic novel and, insofar as it tells a seemingly ordinary tale of sensual longing and adultery while, at the same, time depicting characters and sensibilities typical of bourgeois, philistine rural France during the reign of Louis Phillipe, it is grimly realistic. It is also, however, a deeply psychological novel, one in which Flaubert brilliantly probes the feelings, the sensations, the romantic longings and dreamscapes of Emma Bovary. Above all, "Madame Bovary" is the apogee of the French novel prior to Proust's Parnassian achievement, a novel whose poetic language and artistic rendering transcend mere narrative and elevate Flaubert's work to that of high literary art, a novel for the ages. Read it in the original French if you can; if not, then read it in Frances Steegmuller's outstanding English translation.

It's amusing to read the few negative reviews of this book. One wonders what the readers would possibly consider GOOD literature!

As soon as I finished reading it the first time, I promptly started again from the beginning - something I've never done before. The bare plot is deliberately banal. It's Flaubert's execution, his insight into some of the more complex aspects of human nature and society, and the creation of Emma that mark this as one of the finest (and most engrossing) novels ever written.

What makes Emma tick is perhaps more relevant to our own culture and society - revolving, as it does, so entirely around consumerism, escapist entertainments and a credit-based economy - than it was even to Flaubert's. And I have to wonder about anyone who could get through this book and miss that point entirely.

To be sure, Emma is an extreme case - but there are plenty like her walking around. (I even saw myself in her, to some extent.) The syndrome is common, but seldom described as lucidly as here. I can see Emma, Mastercard in her hot little hand, fitting right into contemporary American society.

Flaubert's Bovary is perpetual, pervasive. Through her eyes, we see the world as it is: filled with universal virtues and vices that lead to either happiness or self- destruction. Madame Bovary captures the crystallized essence of the human spirit: unpredictable and changing, yet tangible and real. Her passions are those that move the soul, but not the mind; she never considers,she simply acts. Beautiful and uncanny, Emma Bovary's view of the world eventually becomes the harbinger of her own destiny, one that she always fails to accept. But, her own actions never deviate from reality; her character is the very re- presentation of human life. Immersed into a world that affects her own personality, Emma conquers a realism that is always perceptible, that reflects the nature of her own fortune. In effect, she becomes the product of Tolstoi's Anna Karenina and Shakespeare's Juliet, for her own destiny is controlled by passions that are never satisfied, never fulfilled. With Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert presents the strange reality of life. He moves through her his own vision, his own perception. In the process, he joins Dickens,Tolstoi, and Dostoyevski, thus becoming not a writer, but a window that enables us to see face to face what lies behind the apparencies of life,a gateway that connects us with all that moves us to and from our ambitions, our own desires.

The Dollmaker was a novel about a family and it's struggle to stay together. The main character Gertie Nevel moved her family from Kentucky to Detroit in an effort to survive. It was during War World II and Gertie's family was in dire need of money. Though Gertie is strong willed, her fight in the chaotic wartime of Detroit thrusts her into a life she is at times unable to bare. The type of life she lived before and her morals she brought up with her to Michigan is something she continued to battle with through out the book. Her love for land, crops, and the country throws her into despair. Her Detroit home smothered her with disbeliefs of never being happy in an environment such as a city life. The home itself was small and she felt like she could have been suffocated at any moment. Her perception of urban life is not a good one either. She views Kentucky as this beautiful place where life should be, and instead she's in Detroit where there is nothing but evil. Another problem Gerite faces is in her leisure time; there she is incapable to whittle the small dolls for Cassie, her youngest daughter. Now she has to make ugly, unwanted dolls to make money. Gertie is a character with a lot of inner strength, and yet her spirit was broken through out the novel. Although this book was stretched out in miniscule detail it allowed the readers to understand more clearly how life changes for the better.

The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow

This is a magnificant, powerful book about a woman's strength, endurance and inner beauty in the face of despair and hopelessness. The innocent faithfulness and innate goodness of Gertie, many times described as a massive, unattractive woman, turns her into an angelic, beautiful creature for the reader. Gertie, always the champion of her children and "good wife" to her husband, triumphs over adversity, fends for herself and emerges as a wonderful role model for people everywhere. For a person characterized with little education, she had the quick thinking, common sense intelligence of someone with far more education. The mountain vernacular was at times difficult to decipher, but with continued reading it became easier. The descriptions of nature and scenery were so richly detailed that it was easy to picture the story--almost as if a movie was being watched. One horrible part in the story was described in such a graphic manner that the reader could literally be sickened, because by this time in the book, the characters are your own, like family members.

This may be one of the greatest works of literature portraying "woman's strength" ever written. Give it a try--you'll like it.

The central character in The Dollmaker is Gertie - a strong Appalacian woman during WWII. Forced by economic conditions and pressured by her husband and family, she leaves the isolation of the rural mountains for Urban life in Detroit. This is a compelling page turner - it's not a fairy tale and it has a hard edge. Currently on assignment in Appalacia, I have had an opportunity to view Gertie's world first hand. Jane Fonda's TV Movie is also recommended - it is faithful to the book and Ms. Fonda's performance won an Emmy. I read this book over 10 yrs ago and I never forgot it.

Simple Selling is truly the finest book I've read on selling. It's a really FAST and complete read. No one else has the flair for writing so to the point as Thomas Ray Crowel. I would recommend this book to anyone in the sales field. It will change your life!

This book is a gold mine! Everytime I go back to it, I find a few more nuggets of knowledge and wisdom. Anyone in the sales field MUST read Simple Selling. It makes success seem easy.

As a working mother in sales for over 10 years, I have read many books on sales and motivation but none compare to Simple Selling. Since reading this book I have found it to be an invaluable tool. I often find myself distracted from what is important in sales. Referring back to the principles in Simple Selling puts everything back into prospective and my sales have never been better!