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Eight Cousins

Louisa May Alcott

Complete text
NovelEnglish

Orphaned Rose enters a large family circle where aunts hold competing ideas about her care and seven boy cousins bring unfamiliar energy. Her guardian Uncle Alec proposes a different approach to her health and education, making family life a continuing experiment in growing up.

25 sections72,806 wordsAbout 5 h 31 min
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About Eight Cousins

Advice about clothes, exercise and manners becomes a debate over what kind of independence a girl should have. Rose learns through participation as much as instruction. The cousins' contrasting temperaments prevent the household from becoming a single moral voice, and small social choices test the adults' larger educational theories.

Reading focus

Follow how Rose's practical experiences support or challenge the different kinds of advice her relatives offer.

This reading edition contains 72,806 words in 25 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.

Author: Louisa May Alcott. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.

Opening excerpt

The Author is quite aware of the defects of this little story, many of which were unavoidable, as it first appeared serially. But, as Uncle Alec's experiment was intended to amuse the young folks, rather than suggest educational improvements for the consideration of the elders, she trusts that these shortcomings will be overlooked by the friends of the Eight Cousins, and she will try to make amends in a second volume, which shall attempt to show The Rose in Bloom.

Read the complete opening section

Contents

All sections
  1. Preface1 min
  2. Chapter 1—Two Girls12 min
  3. Chapter 2—The Clan13 min
  4. Chapter 3—Uncles17 min
  5. Chapter 4—Aunts12 min
  6. Chapter 5—A Belt and a Box14 min
  7. Chapter 6—Uncle Alec's Room14 min
  8. Chapter 7—A Trip to China14 min
  9. Chapter 8—And what came of it11 min
  10. Chapter 9—Phebe's Secret17 min
  11. Chapter 10—Rose's Sacrifice11 min
  12. Chapter 11—Poor Mac12 min
  13. Chapter 12—“The Other Fellows”13 min
  14. Chapter 13—Cosey Corner10 min
  15. Chapter 14—A Happy Birthday19 min
  16. Chapter 15—Ear-Rings16 min
  17. Chapter 16—Bread and Button-Holes14 min
  18. Chapter 17—Good Bargains15 min
  19. Chapter 18—Fashion and Physiology15 min
  20. Chapter 19—Brother Bones13 min
  21. Chapter 20—Under The Mistletoe17 min
  22. Chapter 21—A Scare14 min
  23. Chapter 22—Something to do16 min
  24. Chapter 23—Peace-Making16 min
  25. Chapter 24—Which?15 min

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This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 25 sections and 72,806 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.

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