The Wayside him. In March 1846, the family added a bedroom for their 13-year-old daughter Louisa May Alcott. It was the first room she had to herself. She wrote in her journal, "It does me very good to be alone, and Mother has made it very pretty and neat for me." In this home, Louisa and her sisters lived many of the scenes that later appeared in her book "Little Women" (1868–69), including the amateur plays they performed. She also began writing what would become her first book, "Flower Fables" (1854). Bronson opened the home to many people, including Sophia Foord, a
Little Women and occasional hunger. In addition to her own childhood and that of her sisters, scholars who have examined the diaries of Louisa Alcott's mother, Abigail Alcott, have surmised that "Little Women" was also heavily inspired by Abigail Alcott's own early life. The first volume of "Little Women" was published in 1868 by Roberts Brothers. The first printing of 2,000 copies sold out quickly, and the company had trouble keeping up with demand for additional printings. They announced: "The great literary hit of the season is undoubtedly Miss Alcott's "Little Women", the orders for which continue to flow in upon us