How long does it take to read Little Women?
Louisa May Alcott
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, Little Women takes 12 hours 23 minutes to read. As an audiobook, expect about 20 hours at 1x.
Little Women came out in two parts, in 1868 and 1869, and most editions now print both as one book. That's the length we give here: 47 chapters, averaging about 16 minutes each. If your copy stops at Chapter 23, you have only the first part.
Average is about 250 WPM. Measure yours in two minutes and every time on this page recalculates.
How much to read a day
At 250 words a minute, to finish the book:
Have a deadline in mind? The pages-per-day calculator works it out for any date.
How we measured it
Method: counted text. We used the Project Gutenberg text (#514), from Part 1, Chapter One to the end. It includes both parts, as usually published in the US.
Part of our study of the 100 most popular books, last checked November 2026. Reading times assume steady reading; editions, translations and your own pace all move them.
See how long it really takes you
Log it in Parch as you read. It tracks your pages, sessions and streak, so you'll know your real pace, and how long the next one will take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read Little Women?
About 12 hours at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 15 hours at 200 and 10 hours at 300.
How many words are in Little Women?
185,872 words.
How many pages a day to finish Little Women in a month?
About 23 pages a day, or 25m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 676 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
How many chapters does Little Women have?
47. Part 1 is chapters 1 to 23; Part 2, published separately in the UK as Good Wives, is chapters 24 to 47. They average about 3,950 words, or roughly 16 minutes of reading each.
Is Good Wives included?
Yes. Good Wives is the British title for the second part, and our count covers both. The first part on its own is chapters 1 to 23.