Little Women is a coming of age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832 to 1888). Originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, Alcott wrote the book over several months at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives of the four March sistersMeg, Jo, Beth, and Amyand details their passage from childhood to womanhood. Loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters, it is classified as an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel.