Why Little Women Endures: How A Woman Who Hated Sex Keeps Us Reading

The new movie, Little Women, is on my to-see list. It reminded me of an article I wrote in 2018 about how that book influenced me to become a writer. Here it is: How Childhood Reading Shapes Identity. That article has been retweeted continuously since publication – a testament to Alcott’s evocation of family life and the psychological complexities of the thinking of girls on the cusp of womanhood.

I am not alone in wondering if Alcott’s enduring hold on the imagination of girls and women is her very complicated, not to say confusing, attitude to sex. Jo, the future writer, rejects the handsome boy next door, Laurie, because she wants to be an author. We understand from the subtext that she thinks she can only write without being a wife and mother. Then Alcott has her marry a much older man. At first, Jo thinks Professor Bhaer is an intellectual companion, but then he belittles her literary aspirations, and they go on to run a school together, a school for boys. Jo’s writerly aspirations are set aside.

Historians say that Alcott’s publisher pushed her into making

My publisher, The Wild Rose Press, has authors from all over the world. Perhaps unique among publishers, it encourages friendship between its authors through an email loop.

One of the writers is Stephen B. King of Western Australia. He has been keeping us apprised of the bushfire situation in Australia. As we know from daily television and news reports, the bushfires have raged up and down the East Coast, and the West Coast as well, taking human lives, killing millions if not billions of insects, birds and animals, and causing choking smoke to pollute the major cities.

About three weeks ago, Steve floated an idea: What if the authors of The Wild Rose Press were to put together an anthology of short stories and to donate all profits? Within 24 hours, he had offers for short stories from 40 authors, and by a few days later there were 48 of us with stories ready. There were so many stories offered that the press decided to create three volumes.

The publisher acted swiftly. Contracts were sent out in record time, the editors volunteered to copy edit and proof read, a brilliant cover was created, and a release date of February 14