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Louisa May Alcott has done it again with Good Wives. This is my second time reading Good Wives, however the magnitude of its writing will never cease to amaze me. Might I daresay this was an improvement on its predecessor, Little Women? While Little Women (the book itself and the book series) remains to be one of the greatest literary pieces of all time, I do believe that Good Wives was the book that solidified its position amongst the greatest of American literature.

Before reading beyond this, I'd like to issue a spoiler and lenghth warning. Long review ahead.

While many fans of Little Women often hate this book for its ending mainly relating with Jo and Laurie, I do think that Louisa May Alcott did a very fine job in writing Jo's and Laurie's ending. The March sisters are written beautifully and did very well in its portrayal of the joys and pains of girlhood and womanhood. While I did like Jo's ending, I think it would sent a more powerful message for her to not have ended up with anyone. I understand she didn't due to the restrictions of the publisher's on Alcott's writing. However, I happen to love Jo's story with Friedrich Bhaer. For a an intelligent and highly spirited person like Jo, love will always be "go big or go home", so I agree that she could only fall for someone whom she could challenged by and whom she adore and respect. The professor not only fits her standards, but goes above it. Many tend to ship Jo and Laurie due to their friendship and alikeness with both even initially starting their friendship to hide from a party, but as the saying goes, opposites attract. Jo and Laurie understood each other in the way only they both could, but this was the same reason that they both quarelled constantly. In this book, Jo even tries to change Laurie, in hopes that she'd fall in love with him, she however doesn't. I think Jo and Laurie's relationship written by Louisa May Alcott with it being rooted in reality, that while the whirlwind and passionate romance is as passionate as it is, this is the very reason why it can't work. Not only that, but Jo NEVER saw Laurie in any romantic sense. For Jo, there was only going to ever be one, and it was the person who could surprise and calm her fiery soul. As for Laurie, the same goes for him and needed the reciprocity and constant guidance that Jo would never have been able to provide had they married while Laurie would not have been able to same Jo either. Laurie and Amy are meant to be and Louisa May Alcott wrote their story in a way that made it so, likewise with Jo and Friedrich. Both Jo and Laurie also begin to recuperate from their depression and aimlessness once both had met their respective partners, because it was then that they were able to blossom into the best versions of themselves. Just as determined about their dreams, without the poor temper and sadness that afflicted them from achieving the things they can.

I can't write about Little Women without talking about all sisters. All of them were given very differing paths from each other, however their individual stories make this book what it is. Meg being the least discussed despite her having a very interesting yet normal ending. Meg's story was the most grounded of the four. Many don't agree with her marriage with John, her marriage seemed a happy one despite its highs and lows. Their love was genuine and of all the relationships seem the most united and stable. Meg and John communicate about their needs and its what keeps their marriage happy and stable. They were both good parents providing the required parenting and affection their children needed. At first, John had tried to avoid getting in Meg's way of parenting and in turn unwittingly neglected to notice how much help his wife needed. Once he saw this however he decides to be more involved and discipline their children when Meg didn't have the heart to do exactly that. Their marriage works because both have what the other lacks and needs, while simultaneously working to contribute in their respective ways to the marriage.

Amy has arguably the biggest development in the books and probably the most chapters in Good Wives. While she did have a temper much like Jo's, she grew out of it sooner than Jo and of the four is the most mature, gaining the most realistic and rational understanding of their society and her responsibilities to her family. Amy grows to be a very charming and beautiful young woman, and later thrives in the social circles they moved in as she tries to fit in while working towards her dreams of becoming the artist. Amy even gets sponsored by Aunt March to go with Aunt Carrol on her Europe trip, so that Amy can develop her artistic skills and find a suitable match for herself, in this Aunt March acknowledges the self-discipline that Jo never had and talent that both sisters did. During this trip to Europe, Amy begins to feel disenchanted with her dreams and begins to doubt her capabilities to reach her dreams. While Jo sets off to New York hoping to achieve her dreams as a writer, she too starts to feel the same. The similarities in Jo and Amy's progress as characters show their likeness to each other especially in regards to their artistic ambitions. This is further supported by the fact that Amy was based on Louisa May Alcott's sister, May, whom she had a very similar and closest relationship with like we see with Jo and Amy. Jo does sometimes compare herself to Amy as she views Amy as someone who she sees does everything effortlessly and successfully without struggling, but in reality Amy often hid her struggles and pains from her family the same way Jo does too with Amy even viewing Jo in the same way. However, Jo does at sometimes come off bitter towards Amy, because Amy wins more approval from others that Jo often hopes she does. Both Jo and Amy have the most intertwined stories and similar stories in the life, both ended up not being successful artists right away, but were able to do so when they've made peace with their so-called failings. They both end up in happy, fulfilling marriages to men that support and respect their dreams even after having children and are able to pursue them because they're given the space to do what they've always wanted.

Beth's story is so rarely analyzed simply for the fact that her death is quite tragic given how short lived and how gently she existed. Beth lived for family and from the first book that was made very clear. She had no interest beyond loving her family and helping other however she can. No rhyme or reason can explain why she died as most of who have lost family members know, but Beth died loving her family and at peace. She simply represented all the good in the world in one person and the sisters whom she held dearly in her heart live with her in mind for every good that happens to them and every good they achieve. Beth represented the impermanence of childhood, but she represented the good we experience despite the shortness of our lives.

This book is ahead of its time in so many ways, but in the most obvious is its emotional maturity and how it has some of the best writing rooted in realism. Good Wives leaves you with wisdom and bittersweet feeling that comes with finishing any great novel, and it remains a novel with a powerful and meaningful message that, for me, resonates with a every generation of women that have a chance to read it. Some people find this book preachy and I think that is valid, but this was written with the intention of providing insight and guidance into being a woman in that time period. Louisa May Alcott does this very well in my opinion while maintaining the quality of the writing, so I'm surprised that not everyone understood it that way. I'd like to elaborate a lot more of my thoughts regarding Good Wives and all its plot points, but I feel I've covered what is the most important and which are the March sisters, our Little Women.