Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This book and the house that I live in were being built as the same time, throughout the Civil War.  I read this book as a young teenager, very close to 50 years ago, and while I did not think much about it with the passing of time, I have watched the film adaptations with interest and pleasure.  Additionally, when Geraldine Brooks wrote March, a continuation of the story from Little Women, I read and enjoyed it, but it did not tempt me to reread the origin story.
All of that changed when I watched Greta Gerwig's film rendition of this book, I felt I needed to reread it.  My SIL verified that the story ran exactly parallel to the novel, and this may be the single greatest adaptation for a book that I have ever seen. It capture both the written word, but also the spirit of the book.  In contrast to the movie, the book doesn't quite hold up.  It is very good, but it just doesn't soar in quite the way the movie does.  There are cringe worthy elements about the role of women, which I have no doubt were entirely accurate, but the movie plays them in a light less harsh to modern eyes and ears.  None-the-less, it is a good read and certainly a classic.