A story about a nineteenth-century woman’s search for a meaningful life through work outside the family sphere, Work is at once Alcott’s exploration of her personal challenges and a social critique of America.

""Jack and Jill,"" which has been out of print for over a decade, was originally published in 1880. It was the last of Louisa May Alcott's eight novels for children that began with ""Little Women."" Subititled ""A Village Story,"" it is set in Harmony Village, a fictional small New England town. The book tells the story of neighbors and best friends Jack Minot and Janey Pecq, nicknamed ""Jill"" because she is Jack's constant companion. The two young people go up a snowy hill one December day and suffer a serious sledding accident. The story follows the two and their friends through their recovery, through winter and spring holidays and activities, summer vacation, and back to a new school year. ."" . they were just beginning to look about them as they stepped out of childhood into youth . . . There are many such boys and girls, full of high hopes, lovely possibilities, and earnest plans, pausing a moment before they push their little boats from the safe shore.""

Alcott’s enchanting debut novel.

Written in 1849, when Louisa May Alcott was just seventeen years old, The Inheritance is the captivating tale of Edith Adelon, an impoverished Italian orphan who innocently wields the charms of virtue, beauty, and loyalty to win her true birthright. A long lost letter reveals her secret inheritance, nothing less than the English estate on which she is a paid companion. But Edith is loath to claim it – for more important to her by far are the respect and affection of her wealthy patrons, and the love of a newfound friend, the kind and noble Lord Percy.

Her first novel shows a young Alcott writing under the influence of the gothic romances and sentimental novels of her day. In their introduction, Professors Myerson and Shealy, who recovered Alcott’s unpublished manuscript, explore how her unconventional upbringing and early literary influences shaped The Inheritance, and consider it in the light of her mature style, particularly that of her classic, Little Women.