Tonight, we’ll read the next chapter of “Little Women” by American author Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868, titled “A Telegram”.

You can listen to the whole series in order at snoozecast.com/series.

The novel has been said to address three major themes: domesticity, work, and true love, all of them interdependent and each necessary to the achievement of its heroine's individual identity. According to many critics, Alcott created a whole new genre, one that took elements from romantic children's fiction and combined it with others from sentimental novels. Within the four different March sisters can be found the first vision of the "All-American girl.”

In the last episode, a chapter called “A Telegram,” Marmee receives news that her husband has fallen ill in an army hospital. Her daughters, along with Laurie, Mr. Laurence and Mr. Brooks all rally to help in different ways. Jo cuts her long hair short at the barbers to earn some quick money, and Mr. Brooks plans to accompany Mrs. March to Washington DC.