The March sisters -- Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy -- and their mother, Marmee, prepare for Christmas in 1861 without presents and without their father, a Union army chaplain who is away at war; the girls become friends with the new boy next door.

As Marmee waits by her husband's sickbed in the army hospital, the March sisters learn to cope without their parents; Meg is shocked and embarrassed to hear rumors that Marmee is trying to marry her off to Laurie.

A year has passed and the March family welcomes Meg's twins, but Marmee and Jo are anxious as Beth's health and spirits flag; Aunt Carrol arrives with the opportunity for Jo to accompany her daughter on a tour of Europe, but chooses Amy instead.