I've never read Little Women before. In parts it was extraordinary: such vivid and varied characters, emotional complexities, depictions of the challenges in life--including what happens after the wedding bells chime (particularly for one couple, Meg and Mr. Brooke) and children who are neither angels nor devils and evolve and change over time. In parts, however, it felt a bit like one incident after the next with no overall structure and writing that was often but not always good. Overall, it is hard to think of much like it before it was written and not a lot like it after. And I expect the characters (except Beth who seemed to be in the book only to die slowly over the course of it) to stay with me, especially Jo and Amy who feel as alive as just about any characters in a novel can be.