This story of the four March sisters is based on the author`s own childhood. The novel is divided into two parts. Book One focuses on the sisters` struggles with poverty while growing up in New England during the Civil War. As their father, a minister, serves in the war, the girls are raised by their loving and wise mother, Marmee. Book Two takes place after the war has ended and the father has returned to the family. The sisters deal with love, marriage, an unexpected tragedy, and Jo`s determination to become a professional writer.