"After the success of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott brought her genius for characterization and eye for detail to a series of revolutionary novels and stories remarkable for their forthright assertion of women's rights. In the largely autobiographical Work: A Story of Experience, twenty-one-year-old orphan, Christie Devon, announces 'a new Declaration of Independence' and pursues economic self-sufficiency through a variety of jobs: servant, actress, governess, companion, and seamstress, among others. Eight Cousins and its sequel, Rose in Bloom, follow the fate of Rose Campbell, another orphan, who with the benefit of a progressive education charts her own course to fulfillment and love. All three novels are presented with art from the original editions and supplemented by seven rare stories and public letters--two restored to print tor the first time in more than a century--as well as notes identifying the many allusions, quotations, and autobiographical episodes."--Publisher's description.