Jo's Boys

Jo's Boys, and How They Turned Out: A Sequel to "Little Men" is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott, first published in 1886. The novel is the final book in the unofficial Little Women series. In it, Jo's children, now grown, are caught up in real world troubles.

Plot details

The book mostly follows the lives of Plumfield boys who were introduced in Little Men, particularly Tommy, Emil, Demi, Nat, Dan, and Professor Bhaer and Jo's sons Rob and Teddy. Additional characters include Daisy and Demi's younger sister Josie, and Bess, their cousin. The book takes place ten years after Little Men, opening with Jo and Meg at Plumfield reflecting on their childhood dreams. As the city grew, Meg and the Lawrences moved to the grounds at Plumfield, and they all lived there with Professor Bhaer as president of the boys school. The story quickly moves to Tom, so in love with Nan that he has enrolled in medical school to follow her despite having no personal interest in it. Throughout the book, he pursues her and she jokes with him about it, as she wants to stay single and focus on her career.

Shortly, Professor Bhaer's nephew and adopted son, Emil, visits from his life at sea. It is revealed that Jo achieved success publishing her stories, enough that she has earned money and notoriety. She is so tired of the constant visits and letters from fans who expect someone different, that she seldom responds to letters or greets visitors, most often playing the author role for men who visit because they do not fawn over her like girls do. After an exasperating visit from 75 men of the Christian Union, Dan, one of the original Plumfield students shows up on a visit from California. All of the residents of Plumfield are fascinated by his wild personality and rugged good looks. He plans to try farming after seeing Nat off for his musical studies in Germany. Parnassus, the home of Amy and Laurie's family, holds a dance to send everyone off. Dolly and George, two more original Plumfield boys, make an appearance, now college students dealing with the temptations of snobbery, arrogance, self-indulgence, and vanity. Later, Rob and Ted fall into a scrape with Dan's dog that draws them closer in the end.

The Lawrences take Meg's youngest daughter Josie along on a vacation at the beach, where she discovers her idol Miss Cameron is staying next door at a private beach. After waiting for her chance, she helps the actress retrieve a bracelet she lost in the ocean and is rewarded with an invitation to visit the next day. Miss Cameron gives Josie advice and encouragement after seeing her act. Back at Plumfield, Tom and Demi return from their travels and Tom confides in Mrs Jo that he is in a scrape. In his efforts to impress Nan, he "accidentally" falls in love with and proposes to Dora, but talking to Jo, he finds he is happier with her, and quits medicine to join his family's business. Meanwhile, Demi shares with his mother that after trying so many professions, he wants to go into publishing and has found a position with Aunt Jo's publisher.

The book then jumps to Emil, who is promoted after his hard work as a sailor. On his first voyage as second mate, he gets a chance to show his true strength when he is shipwrecked and the captain becomes badly injured, as he encourages and helps the sailors and the sick captain until they find refuge on a passing ship. He later marries Mary, the daughter of the captain.

In Dan's travels, he befriends a younger boy named Blair, who he later encounters being cheated out of a lot of money. Trying to help, Dan calls out the cheater and a fight breaks out in which Dan kills the man in self-defense, which is the one sin he and Jo always feared he would commit and gets him sentenced to a year in prison with hard labor. He is released and plans to recover his strength before revisiting Plumfield, determined not to reveal his shame from what he believes ruined his life.

Nat begins a musical career in Europe that takes him away from Daisy, only to fall in with a frivolous crowd and unintentionally leads a young woman on, whom he does not marry, but makes things right when he narrowly avoids debt and lives on the right path for the rest of his time there. Josie ends up becoming a great actress, while Bess remains the "Princess", showing a passion for art and pottery, but is encouraged by her father to also experience the outdoors.

Composition and publication history

Louisa May Alcott wrote the novel while living at the

Nan is the focus of Japanese animated television series Little Women II: Jo's Boys (Wakakusa Monogatari Nan to Jou Sensei). Additionally, Little Men (1940 film) is loosely based on Jo’s Boys.

References