In Search Of a Book I May Never Find: Little Women

During my teenage years I spent time in a place far away from home. In this place there was a small shelf of books where I found a copy of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, which I held onto. It became partly my comfort reading and partly a flat surface for milling my chalk of sleep. After a few weeks, I was transferred out of state and I of course smuggled the book along with me. While I wasn’t aloud to have many personal items, I was aloud to have this book and it became the one constant in my life.

Flash forward to my adult life, the year is 2018 in Long Beach, CA. The book displays above what used to be an old fireplace that’s been painted over, small stain on the cover from years passed of crushed remnants. I was going through a very intense breakup and he had convinced me to donate majority of my belongings, this book included. I kept trying to convince myself that I was choosing to live minimally, that I didn’t need much to be happy nor did I need material attachments. However as the months continued, my cancerian, nostalgic self become distraught over this loss. I called Savers, the thrift store in which he had dropped off my belongings to. The woman I spoke with kindly let me know that all books are immediately shipped to their warehouse and after one week, they can even be relocated to another location in or out of state.

Again, years passed and we arrive in Colorado of 2021. Someone very special in my life gifted me a gilding edges, leather bound, collectors edition of Little Women. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I have received and yet still I couldn't help but grieve my crappy little book that had zero monetary value.

The year is now 2026, I’m in South Beach Miami and it’s been so long that I’m beginning to forget what my book looked like. The details I can remember: it's a hardcover with the title written down the spine, a small stain on the front cover, blue or floral in color, worn and faded. It seems nearly impossible that I would ever see this book again but then again I've seen unexplainable things happen throughout in my life.

*Thousands of different editions of Little Women have been published worldwide since 1868. The pictures below are some examples I found online that are the most representative to what I can remember.