"""Highly entertaining and eminently sane…[Rioux] paints a compelling portrait of Alcott, giving us fascinating insights into the creation of Little Women."" -- Charlotte Gordon - The Washington Post ""Thoughtful… An adroit consideration of Alcott and her milieu."" -- Meghan Cox Gurdon - The Wall Street Journal ""Anne Boyd Rioux's book, published to coincide with Little Women's 150th anniversary, is a compact but rich account of Alcott's life, how she came to write her most famous and enduring work, and its effect on her and American literature... [a] satisfying, balanced but punchy tribute to Alcott's great work..."" -- Lucy Mangan - The Spectator ""Rioux gives an enthralling account of how Little Women broke new ground – with realistic girls who spoke in ‘vulgar’ slang, lost their tempers, had career plans and, if they did get married, found it pretty hard work... This delightful read had me leaping to grab Little Women and its two sequels off the bookshelf immediately."" -- The Mail on Sunday ""...highly companionable and illuminating..."" -- Vanity Fair ""Lively and informative…Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy does what—ideally—books about books can do: I’ve taken Little Women down from my shelf and put it on top of the books I plan to read."" -- Francine Prose - The New York Times Book Review ""Rioux considers the cultural impact and enduring popularity of Louisa May Alcott’s American Civil War-set novel Little Women, a runaway success since it was first published 150 years ago."" -- The top page-turners of 2018: History - Mail on Sunday"