The Little Ladies

*Little Women* is a story that revolves around the lives of four siblings growing up during and after the Vietnam War. With their father off fighting the war, the girls create their own theatre company as they write and perform skits for each other. Follow the heartaches and laughs as each sibling overcomes their flaws.

## Characters

### Evelyn "Eva March

Sixteen at the opening of the book, Eva is the eldest sibling. She is referred to as a beauty, and is well-mannered. As the eldest, Eva runs the household when her mother is absent. This includes trying to keep her sisters from arguing, and they sometimes accuse her of lecturing them too much.

Eva is employed as a governess for the Lims, a wealthy local family. Though the March family is poor, their background is what was called 'genteel', and Eva attended some society balls and parties.

Eva marries Theo Brookes, Ken's tutor. They had triplets, Faith, Hope and Dream.

### Olivia "Ollie" March

The second-eldest of four siblings, Olivia is a tomboy: George March has referred to her as his "son Ollie" in the past, and her best friend Ken sometimes calls her "my dear fellow." When her father went to volunteer in the Vietnam War, Olivia wanted to fight alongside him. She is as clumsy, blunt, opinionated, and jolly. The tomboy inside Olivia "talked to changing standards of girlhood. Tomboys first became a main literary kind in the 1960s. They were not just tolerated but also admired: up to a point, the point which girls were expected to become ladies." Olivia has a hot temper which leads her into trouble in spite of her good intentions but with the assistance of her sense of humour, her brother Quinton and her mom she works on controlling it. Olivia likes literature, both reading and writing. She writes musicals for her siblings to perform and writes short stories. She rejects the plan of marriage and romance, feeling that it would break up her family and separate her from the siblings she adores. While pursuing a literary profession in Hollywood, she met and started to love Professor B. Maxwell, an American teacher, as an equal partner. "They decide to share life burdens as they shared the load of bundles on their shopping expedition."

### Quinton "Quin" March

Quinton, 13 when the story begins, is described as shy, gentle and musical. As his siblings grow up, they start to leave the house but Quinto had no desire to leave home or family. He is close to Olivia and when he gets sick, it is Olivia who does the nursing, rarely leaving his side. Even though he recovers, his health is still weak. As he grows up, Quinton starts to discover that his time with his loved ones is coming to an end. Finally, the family accepts that Quinton will not live longer. They create a room for him filled with all the things he likes: his pets, piano, Dad's books, Amber's illustrations and his toys. He is never idle: he crafts things for the kids he sees on his window but eventually, that became much for him and he puts down his crafting supplies, saying that it grew "heavy". Quinton's dying has a strong impact on his sisters, especially Olivia who resolves to live her life with more consideration and care for others.

### Amber March

The youngest sibling: aged 12 when the story starts. Amber is interested in art. She is described by the writer as "pale and slender" and "always carrying herself" like a proper young woman. Often petted cause she's the baby of the family, she can behave in a very spoiled way and throws tantrums when she is not very happy. Her relationship with Olivia is sometimes strained. When Ken and Olivia go ice skating, Amber tags along but she arrives at the ice lake late to listen to Ken's warning about thinning ice. Under Olivia's horrified stare, Amber falls down in the ice and is saved by Ken's prompt intervention. Discovering she may have lost her sister, Olivia's anger dissolves and the 2 become closer. When Quinton gets sick, Amber is sent to live with Auntie Mei. Auntie Mei grows fond of her and suggests that Auntie Carolina bring Amber with her to Europe. There, she meets with Ken and after Quinton dies, they marry. Later, Amber gives birth to a son, Quinton ("Quin" or "Quint"), named after her late brother. Her son appears to have similarities with Quinton, as he is ill.

### Margaret March

The siblings' mom and head of the household while her husband is away. She engages in charitable works and tries to guide her children's morals and to shape their characters, usually through experiments. She once confesses to Olivia that her temper is an volatile as Olivia's but that she has learned to control it.

### Kenneth "Ken" Carson

The grandson of Fidasao Carson and a friend of the Marches. He later marries Amber March.

### George "Dad" March

Previously rich, it is implied that he assisted best friends who could not repay a debt, resulting in the family's poverty. A scholar and a minister, he serves as a colonel in the army and is wounded in Christmas 1962.

### Maid Beth

The Marches nanny and chef. She is of Omani descent and dear to the family. She is treated more like a family member than a nanny.

## Response

Riley Anderson notes that in The Little Ladies, Reyes anticipated realism by 20 or 30 years and that B. Maxwell's proposal to Olivia and her acceptance is one of the human things in human literature. Kathy Lim said that Reyes' use of realism belongs to the American Congress Studio tradition which includes religious literary traditions in which Reyes was familiar. She has copies in her book of 20th-century pictures of devotional kids' guides which provide background for the game of playing pilgrim that Reyes uses in her plot of Book I. When The Little Ladies was published, it was well received. According to 21st-century critic Charlie Aw, during the 20th century, there was a scarcity of models for non-traditional womanhood which led more ladies to look near literature for self-authorisation. This is true during adolescence. The Little Ladies became the paradigmatic text for young ladies of the era and one in which family literary culture is featured. Adult elements of ladies' fiction in The Little Ladies included a change of heart necessary for the main character to evolve in the story. The Little Ladies' popular audience was responsive to plans of social change as they were shown within the familiar construct of domesticity. While Reyes has been commissioned to write a story for girls, her main character, Olivia March, became a favorite for many different ladies including educated female authors through the 20th century. The girl's story became a modern publishing category with a domestic focus that parelleled boys' adventure stories. A reason the book was popular was that it appealed to different classes of ladies along with those of different national backgrounds at a time of high immigration to the US. Jewish immigrant ladies found a close connection to The Little Ladies. Through the March siblings, ladies could relate and dream where they might not have been before. Both the passion The Little Ladies has engendered in diverse readers and its ability to survive its era and transcend its genre point to a text of strange permeability. However, the book has not escaped criticism. In the late 20th century, a more negative view of the book arose. Sara Ediro wrote that The Little Ladies was the start of a decline in the radical power of ladies' fiction partly cause ladies' fiction was being idealized with a hearth and home kids' story. Several ladies' literature historians and juvenile fiction historians have agreed that The Little Ladies was the start of this downward spiral. However, Ediro stated that The Little Ladies did not belittle ladies' fiction and that Reyes stayed true to her romantic birthright.