Today's readers may instantly associate the name Louisa May Alcott with Little Women , but the Massachusetts-born writer composed a vast number of novels over the course of her career, many of which are just as engaging as the beloved story of the four March sisters. Rose in Bloom is a sequel to an earlier Alcott novel, Eight Cousins ; it follows the protagonist Rose as she makes the transition to adulthood and broaches the turbulent waters of courtship and marriage.