[6] The four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, are growing up during the American Civil War in Concord, Massachusetts while their father, a pastor, is off at battle.

The two older sisters work: Meg as a governess, and Jo as a companion for her rich Aunt March, though she also harbours ambitions of being a published writer.

By Christmas Beth has recovered, Jo has a story accepted by a publisher, and the girls' father returns from the war, weak but healed.

Frustrated by her stagnant life and aware that Laurie continues to harbour romantic feelings towards her, Jo leaves to work as a governess at a boarding house in New York.

In Europe Amy and Laurie learn of Beth's death and grow closer, eventually falling in love and marrying before returning home.

Jo feels frustrated by her quiet and confined life and confesses so to Aunt March while she is nursing her back to health after a stroke.

The website's critical consensus states: "Heidi Thomas' Little Women miniseries offers a charming, intimate, and decidedly loyal adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's original story.

"[7] Euan Ferguson in The Observer said: "The grit and pain of the girls' struggles to define themselves, in that fast-changing age, in that still young country, rang wholly fresh and credible... all in all, a triumph".

[8] Ben Lawrence of The Daily Telegraph described it as: "the single best thing on television over Christmas... a delight from start to finish – a poignant, funny version of Louisa May Alcott's 1869 novel which made the four March sisters seem like both exciting new creations and old friends",[9] while Alex O'Connell in The Times said: "writer Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife, Cranford) reminds us why we love it and shows us the classic in a bright new light".

"[11] Ben Allen of the Radio Times felt the online reception amongst the public to be more mixed, with some viewers preferring the interpretation of earlier filmed adaptations,[12] while others were left moved but conflicted by the accurate depiction of the novel's conclusion.