The four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—face good times and bad while growing up in a small New England town. Their father is away, serving as a chaplain for the Union in the Civil War, and the family has fallen on hard times financially. Yet their wise and patient mother, Marmee, guides them through every twist and turn. The girls play games, make friends, have adventures, learn from disappointments, fall in love, and strive to follow their dreams as they grow into young women. This unabridged version of Louisa Mae Alcott's well-loved American novel is taken from the 1880 copyright edition, which features original illustrations by Frank T. Merrill.