When American writer Louisa May Alcott was asked, by her publisher, to write a “girls’ story”, she wrote about the only girls she knew as well as herself – her sisters.
Click start to play today’s Crossword, and name Alcott’s famous book.
The story of the March sisters, who lived in poverty in 1860’s Massachusetts, US, is one of the most well-known Western stories in the world. Alcott’s Little Women was not a thriller (which was what sold best at the time), or a story with big reveals or glamorous characters. It had kittens and muffins in it, and at its most ‘outrageous’ moment, one solemn death.
So, when Little Women was published in 1868, and it became a bestseller, the publisher scrambled to produce more copies. The initial print of 2,000 was said to have sold out in two weeks. Alcott was given the green light to produce a second, concluding book, as well. Ever since then, Little Women has never been out of print.
It was a miracle that was much needed in Alcott’s life. As the second-oldest child, who saw her family struggle to put food on the table, she took it upon herself to write stories to make a living. When her 1950 biography was published, people around the world discovered Alcott had been writing stories long before Little Women, under a pen name, for various weeklies.
When a publisher named Thomas Niles read her work, he saw an opportunity for something different. At the time, tales of adventure, written for boys, were published all the time. So, why couldn’t girls have their own stories? Then, as now, girls read far more than boys, and for far longer. A 2018 study by international professional services network Deloitte, conducted with children at age 15, found that more than 40 per cent of girls reported reading at least 30 minutes a day, compared to only about a quarter of boys who did the same.
Niles asked Alcott if she would be interested in writing a “girls’ story” – an idea that she thought was foolish at the time. Alcott is said to have written in her journal: “Never liked girls, or knew many, except my sisters.” But she was strapped for cash, so she used what she knew to produce a story about everyday life and the struggles faced by four sisters.
The thunderous success of Little Women saw the book being translated into more than 50 languages, with hundreds of editions, sequels and spin-offs. According to an August 2018 report in US-based magazine The New Yorker, Alcott preferred to take a flat fee for her book, but her publisher worried about how a story about girls would fare in the market, and convinced her to take a royalty of 6.6 per cent. That decision paid off – it allowed Alcott’s book, and its sequels, to support her and her family, along with some of her relatives, for the rest of their lives.
Have you read Little Women? Play today’s Crossword and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.
