LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott // The March sisters have long been some of my favourite people. I think from the age of eight I’ve tried to absorb the four of them into my own personality, the way you do when you fall in love with a story as a little girl. I wanted to be an artist like Amy, desperate to please others, responsible and kind like Meg, a loved and quietly brave peacemaker like Beth and a headstrong writer like Jo. The things I loved about them all, were balanced perfectly with things that I didn’t like so much. It made them real, and I think I’ve long united their personalities within my own character in a way that wasn’t feasible within the book itself. It’s a picnic of conciliation.