Book Review: The Quiet Little Woman

Author:  Lousia May Alcott
Title: The Quiet Little Woman
Publisher: Honor Books
Publish Date: Sept 1999
Rating: 5 stars
Book Blurb: Everything about The Quiet Little Woman: A Christmas Story by Louisa May Alcott is heartwarming, starting with the extraordinary tale of its origin. Alcott wrote the story for three girls who emulated Little Women's March sisters by founding their own literary publication, but the magazine was lost for many years; this story is now being published in book form for the first time. The Quiet Little Woman tells the story of Patty, a young girl living hopelessly in an orphanage, who is rescued at Christmas time by a kindly woman named Aunt Jane. Also collected in this small, beautiful (and not coincidentally, Christmas stocking-size) volume are two of Alcott's other holiday stories; one of them, "Rosa's Tale," is a really lovely fable about a horse who speaks at midnight on Christmas Eve.

Review: Sometimes you find a book that is so sweet words can't even describe it. That's how I felt when reading these three stories by Louisa May Alcott. They may not be on the same level as Little Women, but each story really leaves you feeling the Christmas spirit.

The first story is called The Quiet Little Woman. This one truly tugs at your heartstrings, as Louisa shows us the life of a little orphan girl, named Patty, who only wants to be loved. She finds it in a round about way after an old lady helps her adoptive parents to offer her more than just the little bit of themselves they were giving her.

This story reminded me a bit of Annie. The children were either adopted by people that wanted a child or by people that wanted servants. It certainly makes you think about how much better things are for the children when it comes to adoption.

Tilly's Christmas shows how something as simple as small bird can make someone's Christmas. But there's more to this story than that.

The final story is Rosa's Tale. It follows the belief that all animals can speak for one hour on Christmas. Rosa's story is really sweet as it shares the horses ups and downs and loyalties.

These are wonderful stories for adults and children. I think they have a common message too, and that's giving love is the most important thing that you can do. At least that's what I took away from reading this collection.