Set in a small New England town during the Civil War years and Reconstruction, Little Women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy (1868-69) introduces Alcott's remarkable heroines, the March sisters, and above all her alter ego Jo March, with her literary ambition and independent spirit. Lovingly attentive, heartfelt, and always sprightly, the novel chronicles the episodes, large and small, of the sisters' progress toward adulthood: their amateur theatricals, sibling rivalries and reconciliations, friendships and romance, lessons about work and charity, and the loss of loved ones. Along the way, generations of readers have met a host of unforgettable characters: their watchful, hardworking mother Marmee, formidable Aunt March, kindly Mr. Laurence, and his grandson Laurie. Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys (1871)... extends the March family saga. Jo-now married to the good-natured Professor Bhaer, and with sons of her own-has become the unflappable matron of an extended family at Plumfield, a school the Bhaers have founded with Aunt March's legacy. Jo's rambunctious youngsters grow up in an atmosphere full of high spirits and misadventure-a world enlivened by Alcott's unique powers of observation and d sympathy. In Jo's Boys, and How They Turned Out (1886), her final novel, Alcott returns to the familiar precincts of Plumfield. Ten years later, Jo's pupils have started to make their way in the world, and find themselves tested... and begin to appreciate the real value of their Plumfield education.