May 23, 2013 by susanwbailey

Eight Cousins and Little Men: The art of domesticity

I am finally getting around to finishing Eight Cousins. I admit this book has not held my interest like I hoped it would but now that I’m getting closer to the end, I’m enjoying it more. Perhaps I know too much back story (such as the fact that Louisa didn’t really enjoy writing this type of book). Perhaps I needed to read it when I was a kid. The book has a “formula” feel about it but it has its charming moments.

One of those moments occurred in the reading of Chapter 16, “Bread and Buttonholes.”

Giving value to domesticity

As much as Louisa held to feminist ideals, she never dismissed the importance of the family, the home and its care. In this chapter (as she also did in Little Men, Chapter 4, “Patty Pans”), she raises domesticity to a higher level.

A surprising choice . . .

As Chapter 16 opens, Rose approaches Uncle Alec with regards to finding a trade to learn. She has no special talent in the arts so she is seeking guidance as to what to learn. When Uncle Alec recommends “housekeeping,” Rose is surprised, asking “Is that an accomplishment?” I appreciated Uncle Alec’s response:

“Yes; it is one of the most beautiful as well as useful of all the arts a woman can learn. Not so romantic, perhaps, as singing, painting, writing, or teaching, even; but one that makes many happy and comfortable, and home the sweetest place in the world. Yes, you may open your big eyes; but it is a fact that I had rather see you a good housekeeper than the greatest belle in the city. It need not interfere with any talent you may possess, but it is a necessary part of your training, and I hope that you will set about it at once, now that you are well and strong.”

. . . and an unexpected teacher

When Uncle Alec announces that Aunt Plenty will be her teacher, Rose offers the common perception of housewives:

“Is she accomplished?” began Rose in a wondering tone, for this great-aunt of hers had seemed the least cultivated of them all.

It is here that Louisa, ironically through Uncle Alec, lifts domesticity to a higher plane:

“In the good old-fashioned way she is very accomplished, and has made this house a happy home to us all, ever since we can remember. She is not elegant, but genuinely good, and so beloved and respected that there will be universal mourning for her when her place is empty. No one can fill it, for the solid, homely virtues of the dear soul have gone out of fashion, as I say, and nothing new can be half so satisfactory, to me at least.”

Rose’s achievement

Rose goes on to learn how to cook from Aunt Plenty with her crowning achievement being a perfect loaf of homemade bread for her uncle, made with great care and presented with love.

Appreciating the art of domesticity

Having no natural talent in all things domestic, I envy those who have that talent. Matters of the home are often dismissed today (as it was beginning to be back in Louisa’s time) as lowly, commonplace, even demeaning: definitely not a worthy pursuit for today’s liberated woman.

Louisa, however, brings out the intrinsic value of housekeeping, that of creating a welcoming environment where all family members feel loved and cared for. She equates good housekeeping with love.

Family example

I only began to understand that very recently with my sister-in-law. Cynthia is an accomplished gourmet cook (in the school of Julia Child, her idle; she has a recipe card with Julia’s autograph, framed on her stove) and is also talented in knitting and crocheting. She always creates a theme for the meal, complete with music, and at a birthday get-together back in March we were treated to an authentic French dinner. After stuffing ourselves with nine pounds of mussels smothered in butter and crème sauce and other goodies, we sat back, allowing the inevitable food coma to engulf us. I leaned back in my chair, too sleepy to talk, and began to observe, for the first time, how much love Cynthia put into the preparations and presentation. When dessert of delicious chocolate-coffee mousse was served, she declined eating hers, declaring that she’d rather watch everyone else enjoy theirs. It was at that moment that I had my epiphany, understanding my sister-in-law for the first time. She lavished her love generously through her cooking. In that moment, domesticity became art to me.

Eight Cousins shows this too. Rose is proud of her loaf, made with such love for her dear uncle after much trial and error. Uncle Alec receives the loaf with true appreciation of the care that went into its making.

Make homemaking fun

In Little Men, Louisa shows a different side to domesticity, making it fun for the one little girl at Plumfield. Daisy was feeling left out because the boys would not allow her to join in their football game even though she and Demi would play on occasion. She begged Aunty Jo for a new game (or “play,” as she called it) and Jo, inspired by Daisy’s interest in making gingersnaps with Asia, the cook, outfitted her with a complete toy kitchen!

Playing cook

Reading the description of the child-sized stove and dishes, I thought back wistfully to the fun so many girls my age had with the Kenner Easy-Bake Oven. What a thrill it was to bake our own cupcakes, tiny as they were, in our own ovens. And then there were the Girl Scout cooking badges you could earn by learning how to prepare meals for your family. Never being good at cooking, I didn’t learn much but it was a lot of fun.

A balance of ideas

Eight Cousins in particular offers many different ideas about raising a girl to be a good woman that were considered peculiar or even radical in Louisa’s day. Rose, after all, was taught never to wear a corset as it was better for her health, was encouraged to run, jump and be active outdoors, and was shown how her body worked as seen in Chapters 18 and 19, “Fashion and Physiology” and “Brother Bones.” Her great aunts often grumbled about Uncle Alec’s strange ideas of raising a girl.

Yet Louisa, career woman and spinster, never turned her back on the value of the family and home life. Kitchen duty may not have been her favorite thing to do, but she understood how all the pieces of domesticity worked together for the whole – a happy, well-loved and well cared-for family. In later years she would welcome her sister’s child, Lulu, into her home as her own.

Louisa presented a balanced view of a woman’s life, understanding that the many pieces could work together in harmony so long as the men in her life allowed it. Uncle Alec was one of those men.

P.S. I have just started Little Men and will write more about it over the coming weeks and months. I realize that the posts I do about Louisa’s books don’t always come in a consistent manner. I have however, gathered up and organized all the posts I’ve done so far on the books covered in this blog so that you can find them. Visit the menu at the top of the page, select “Her Writing,” and from the drop-down menu, choose the book you’re interested in to see all the posts.

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May 17, 2013 by susanwbailey

Letter from an anguished mother: Abba writes of her sojourn with Lizzie to the North Shore

Work is progressing, albeit slowly, on my book project. I am enjoying all aspects of the process from the thinking and planning while I drive (I’m one of those crazies that talks to myself all the time), to the research, to the paragraphs percolating in my head, to the final writing. I’m falling more in love with my characters if that is possible. I enjoy their company and their voices inside my head.

Sources in the writer’s own hand

Primary sources are vital to historical research; I was taught this by my seventh grade social studies teacher. I remember feeling excited when she explained that our textbooks would include original writings from those who formed and shaped our country. I’ve never lost that thrill of reading something written long ago, especially when you can read the person’s own handwriting.

Worth the effort

Lately I’ve been immersed in letters written by Abba to Bronson, her brother Samuel Joseph, and her daughters Louisa and Anna. I had requested and received PDF scans of several letters from the helpful librarians at Houghton Library and felt like I had won the lottery! The beauty of PDF files is that they can be easily enlarged, a necessity since Abba’s handwriting is so difficult to read. My respect for the tenacity of Eve LaPlante went up tenfold as I struggled over each word. Her compilation, My Heart is Boundless: Writings of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa’s Mother is truly the product of blood, sweat and tears, making it all the more valuable.

From sister to brother

One such letter, addressed to “My dear Brother” is dated August 25, 1857, written from Lynn, Massachusetts. Abba had taken Elizabeth to an area known as the North Shore so that her daughter could experience the supposed healing effects of the ocean. My mother was born in Lynn; her family (the Breeds) was established in the seacoast city in the 1630s. She grew up in Lynn and neighboring Swampscott, another town where Abba and Elizabeth stayed during their sojourn. This is of personal importance because Abba cites a Dr. Newhall from Lynn as treating Lizzie during their stay. Because there were many marriages between Breeds and Newhalls over the years, I have a strong suspicion that I may be related to Dr. Newhall. I am currently researching that possibility and will report back if I find that we are kissin’ cousins.

Looking for answers

Abba wrote the following to Samuel Joseph regarding Lizzie’s condition (note that I couldn’t make out all the words and therefore left some out. I have corrected some small punctuation errors):

We have been in Lynn now about three weeks – Lizzy’s vacillating condition has left me from day to day in doubt what to write about … The first week was warm and pleasant and the change was grateful to her – she eat [ate], slept and lived more naturally than I have known her to do for 6 months – but the last two weeks have been cold, rainy, dispiriting me and her – and most unfavorable for her. Dr. Newhall (Charles’ Dr.) thought it best to remove her immediately back – thinks her lungs are slightly diseased and that the comforts of house and the society of her family are now all important … Aunty Bond sent Dr. Charles [Windship] down – he gives a different opinion … that Lizzy is in every way failed – but that she has no not even incipient disease of the lungs – her nervous weakness operates on the brain and lungs … pathetically – that another week of fine weather may produce a most salient effect – for I remain till next Mon. This will prove the experiment a gain or a failure – it will end (?) my faith in human science and my pocket of human dreams. I work on as hopefully as I can … such a scientific must – it seems to me the system of medicine is a prolonged Guess. (AMA to SMJ 25 August 1857 fro MS Am 1130.9 (25), Houghton Library, Harvard University)

Inspired by her surroundings

After writing such a distressing account, she waxes philosophical as she contemplates the scenery:

The change of scene has been very beneficial to me. I had become morbidly apprehensive … in judgment and action. The very sight of the ocean has restored me to a sense of marginal (?) power. From our … irritations, our faithless anxiety bubbles (?) before the immensity of ocean, the grandeur of rocks (?), … the feel that order, and Beauty, love and power around, that it is the order of Supreme law – the beauty of sublime art – the love of uniform (?) good will – the Power of eternal Night. Our own dependence it is so apparent – our helplessness so unmistakable we exclaim … from pure instinct truly a Lord liveth – and loveth! (Ibid)

Reading that made me think of how often she and Bronson, especially in the early days, must have sat together, sharing similar thoughts.

From iconic Marmee to real mother

Reading Abba’s letters in her own hand transforms her from the literary icon of Marmee to a flesh and blood person. Often I feel like I am reading letters written by my own mother or grandmother when I read hers. I recall from Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother that LaPlante described the poor condition of Abba’s eyesight so I can understand why her handwriting might be difficult to read. It’s amazing she could write letters at all considering the condition of her eyes!

That helpful Houghton librarian sent me a final tantalizing tease in her email, to quote: “there are a lot of other letters that deal with Lizzie’s collapse and the sojourn to the North Shore.”

Meat for the starving dog. Stay tuned …

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May 9, 2013 by susanwbailey

Six women writers (including Louisa May Alcott) and their journeys as writers on film

There is a wonderful film online featuring the stories of six prominent women writers (including Louisa May Alcott, of course!. It is called Behind a Mask: Six Women Finding a Space to Write. Here is the summary from the website, Films on Demand Digital Educational Video:

Behind a Mask: Six Women Finding a Space to Write

This program explores the obstacles overcome by six prominent female authors: Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, and Alice Walker. On-location footage at sites such as Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, complements discussion from an array of critics and experts, including Dr. Carolyn Heilbrun, author of Writing a Woman’s Life; Professor Elaine Showalter of Princeton University; Dr. Sarah Elbert, author of A Hunger for Home: Louisa May Alcott’s Place in American Culture; Madeleine Stern, Alcott’s biographer and editor; and Dr. Leona Rostenberg, who, together with Stern, proved that Alcott wrote many sensationalist stories under a pseudonym. Produced by the Open University. (50 minutes)

You can watch the film in its entirety here.

This is a breakdown of the film from Films on Demand:

Women Struggle to Write (04:19)
Until the mid-twentieth century, women writers such as Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Bronte, and Jane Austin had to negotiate and justify their desire to write.

Louisa May Alcott (04:39)
Alcott recreates her life with her three sisters and mother in “Little Women” depicting the hopes and dreams of a house full of females. She negotiates mental and physical space to write her novel.

Emily Dickinson (04:08)
Dickinson created a reclusive space to write exquisite poetry reflecting women’s culture and women’s inner life. Hundreds of unconventional poems are published posthumously.

Alcott’s Sensation Stories (02:24)
In the 1970s fascinating research by Stern and Rostenberg discovered Alcott’s sensation stories. Clues in “Little Women” reveal the writing activities of Jo March that parallels Alcott’s life.

Discovery of Letters and Pseudonym (04:13)
Researchers discover letters to Alcott approving the publication of “Behind the Mask” and evidence of her pseudonym, A.M. Barnard. Alcott’s work is autobiographical and controversial.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (04:59)
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman is about a woman’s stifled creativity and the development of madness from domestic confinement. Gilman escapes her marriage through divorce.

Gilman Inspires Other Women (03:09)
In the 1890s yellow represented decadence. The woman in “The Yellow Wallpaper” becomes obsessed and lost in it. Gilman continues to inspire women with further political works and feminism.

Virgina Woolf (04:20)
In Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own,” she states that a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. She was a prodigious writer of essays, short stories, and novels.

Sylvia Plath (06:21)
American writer Sylvia Plath greatly admired Virginia Woolf. In “The Bell Jar” and “Lady Lazarus,” she expresses madness as rage. Like Gilman and Woolf, Plath plans and commits suicide.

Alice Walker (02:04)
Black women writers have had to deal with issues of gender, race, and class in ways that are not central to white women’s literature or men’s literature. Black tradition influences Alice Walker.

“The Color Purple” (04:09)
“The Color Purple” is what Walker would call a “womanist” novel including issues of eroticism and a struggle missing from white feminism. Walker gives Celie space through her letters.

Quilting (04:02)
Walker’s use of quilting is found in “The Color Purple” through the characters in both fragment and form. “Sister’s Choice” is a type of quilt that is a metaphor for the differences of women’s lives.

Watch the entire film here.

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May 5, 2013 by susanwbailey

Little Women in Dinan, France

Reblogged from American Girls Art Club In Paris:

Little Women Abroad, edited by Daniel Shealy (University of Georgia Press, 2008), is a wonderful account of the Alcott sisters' trip to Europe together in 1870. Most readers will be interested in the travels and insights of the most famous sister, Louisa May Alcott, but for an artist, the real thrill is to see France through her little sister Abigail May's eyes.

Book review: Little Women An Annotated Edition, edited by Daniel Shealy

I am delighted when Gabrielle Donnelly, author of The Little Women Letters (see previous post) offered to review this wonderful new edition of Little Women. Ed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

There are two ways to read Daniel Shealy’s new annotated version of Little Women (Belknap Press, $35.00): the sensible way and the irresistible way. The sensible way is to open at the beginning, and read through to the end, checking the footnotes as you go. That is the sensible way.

Every detail you could ever want

The irresistible way, is to open at the beginning … read the first couple of footnotes … realize that this book will tell you every single thing that you have ever wondered about in the background to Little Women … and proceed on a wild treasure hunt of March family trivia that will take you zig-zagging across the text until your head spins.

Was the town where the Marches lived really based on Concord? (No – although there are similarities between the Marches’ house and Hillside, the Alcotts’ house when the daughters were teenagers, the house in the book is quite specifically located in a ‘suburb’ of Boston while the more rural Concord is 18 miles away.)
What really were pickled limes? (Precisely what they sounded like, and, inexplicably, hugely popular with nineteenth century schoolchildren).
What was the game called ‘Rarey’ that Laurie played with his horse while Amy sketched him? (Not a game at all, interestingly: there was famous horse whisperer of the time called John Rarey, whom apparently Laurie was emulating).
Did May Alcott, the real life inspiration for Amy March, ever really sleep with a clothes pin on her nose? (Yes, and was less than delighted to have had this fact immortalized in print).

Many ways to read

The bad thing about reading the book the irresistible way is that it will leave you dazed and giddy, with your mind stuffed with far too much information properly to process. The good thing is that, after you have suitably sown your Alcottian wild oats, you will then have the time to go back and read the book the sensible way to see what you’ve missed.

For the fan and the scholar

Quite simply, the book is the Little Women lover’s dream come true. It’s physically imposing, with pages that are nine inches wide and divided into two columns: the text of the book runs through the two inner columns, while the outer are devoted to the footnotes. And what footnotes they are. There is something in them for everyone, from the neophyte who needs to have it explained that that beloved Alcottian adjective ‘decided’ means ‘determined’ in modern English, to scholars of all levels, of literature, of history, of women’s studies, of social studies, and of just plain fun.

Pages 246-247 – the footnotes are in red, the book text in black. The exquisite design of this book is exemplified through the choice of type (note the lovely drop cap at the beginning of the chapter) and the quality of the paper.
From Little Women: An Annotated Edition by Louisa May Alcott and edited by Daniel Shealy. Copyright © 2013 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Serious facts, fun trivia

Information comes trivial and weighty, and the skill with which all of it is woven around the text is exemplary.

A chance comment of Marmee’s that she doesn’t want the girls to ‘delve like slaves,’ leads to a concise, but full, outline of the antislavery movement.

Similarly, the information that Meg’s husband John Brooke went to fight in the Civil War and was wounded – although we are told that the real life John Bridge Pratt did not go to fight at all – provides an opportunity for some sobering paragraphs on the ‘horrific’ human cost of the War on the population in general.

Louisa and her alter ego, Jo

Louisa’s real-life literary career is recounted alongside Jo March’s fictional one; and no less meticulousness is given to detailing the various fashionable fineries with which all sisters adorn themselves throughout the book. Louisa’s views on marriage are expounded, as are her views on women’s emancipation; Bronson Alcott’s philosophy is given its due airing, as is a history of salt cellars, a recipe for beef tea, and a completely delightful anecdote which I had never heard before, about a visit to Boston by the then Prince of Wales in 1860, during the course of which he captured the heart of Louisa and a friend by winking to them flirtatiously as he passed by in a carriage.

Classic illustrations through the ages

Pages 336-337 features a delightful depiction of Amy, foot stuck in plaster; illustration by Frank Merrill, 1880 version.
From Little Women: An Annotated Edition by Louisa May Alcott and edited by Daniel Shealy. Copyright © 2013 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Nor are the treasures of this book confined to its words. Running through the pages is a veritable wealth of illustrations, ranging from historical photographs of Louisa, her family, and the time she lived in, to book illustrations from different editions of Little Women, to stills from the various movies.

You will flick from Norman Rockwell’s no-nonsense depictions from 1937, to Frank Merrill’s elegant pen and ink figures from 1880 (my personal favorite is of Jo wearing glasses and addressing the Pickwick Society), to the sweetly wistful sisters of Barbara Cooney from 1955.

You will find stills of Katharine Hepburn as Jo in 1933, Christian Bale as Laurie in 1994, and a lavishly made-up Elizabeth Taylor as Amy in 1949.

Picture, pictures and more pictures

Along the way you will chance on other joys – the warmly welcoming interiors of the magnificent Orchard House museum in Concord, a Victorian mourning locket, an old playbill, a group of early suffragettes, or sometimes, just because it’s pretty, an illustration of a sweet pea or a dahlia. Amy would approve wholeheartedly.

Totally worth it

This book is not a casual purchase: priced at $35.00 and weighing in at a whopping 4.2 pounds, it is not something you’ll be slipping into your basket on the spur of the moment. But for the person in your life who loves or could learn to love Louisa May Alcott, and who you think deserves a special treat – be it your daughter, your best friend or even (why not?) yourself – it is worth each penny of cost and each ounce of weight several times over.

Gabrielle Donnelly is the author of the novel The Little Women Letters, published by Touchstone.

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Susan’s ebook, “Game Changer” is now available From the Garret – download for free!

April 22, 2013 by susanwbailey

Greetings from the Beyond

You may recall the last post I wrote about Work: A Story of Experience where I reiterated the religious importance of this autobiographical novel by Louisa May Alcott. I was moved by the consolation Christie Devon received as described in chapter 19, “Little Hearts-Ease.” She heard husband David’s “voice” as the breeze blew near his flute.

From the collection at the Concord Free Public Library www.concordlibrary.org

From the collection at the Concord Free Public Library http://www.concordlibrary.org

I wrote about similar experiences when my mother passed away.

Today, April 22 marks the third year anniversary of my mother’s passing. God gifted me with the most exquisite greeting from my mother today, a greeting that I believe Louisa would have greatly appreciated.

I had mentioned my mother’s affiliation with Wellesley College, first as a Botany major, and then as a laboratory assistant in the Botany department. As a child she picked wild flowers in the woods with her older sister Meredith. Her father maintained a splendid English garden at the old homestead, a beautiful Tudor in Swampscott, MA (ironically, one of the places where Abigail took Lizzie hoping the sea air would improve her health; Louisa imagined the scene in Little Women with Jo accompanying Beth to the shore).

I took my lunch hour walk today, finding myself over at the college even though I had not planned on going there. It was like I was directed to go. When I got there, I was greeted with most beautiful scene straight out of my mother’s heart:

The entire hillside was covered with the smiling faces of yellow and white daffodils:

The tears welled up as I felt the presence of my mother so deeply within. I knew just how Christie Devon must have felt. I imagine Louisa must have had similar experiences remembering her sister Lizzie, her “spiritual guide.”

The visit was short and sweet but it greatly lifted my spirits. God indeed is everywhere inside us, around us and if, as Louisa did, we have that interior vision to see, we will be consoled.

Here’s the complete set of pictures I took during that extraordinary walk.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Here’s a tease.

The Governor Winthrop Fleet

I’ve mentioned before possible family connections with the Alcotts with the discovery that the first secretary of the Louisa May Alcott Association sported my maiden name of Hoyle (Carrie Hoyle); I saw a note she wrote to John Pratt inviting him to the opening of Orchard House (see previous post). I also know that Abba and Lizzie spent time in Lynn and Swampscott; Lynn is where the Breed family settled in the 1630s, supposedly coming over on the Governor Winthrop Fleet, the same fleet from which Bronson’s ancestors came (one Thomas Alcocke; Bronson’s father was known as Joseph Alcox and Bronson changed the name to Alcott). Unfortunately the manifest is incomplete so the Breed Family Association cannot prove it.

I have since discovered the name of one of the doctors consulted by Abba during her stay on the North Shore that may possibly be connected to the Breed family. This would be the closest tie yet and a most exciting one to boot!

I’m researching this possibility and will let you know how it turns out. A direct connection would be sweet.

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Susan’s ebook, “Game Changer” is now available From the Garret – download for free!

April 17, 2013 by susanwbailey

New book: Little Women An Annotated Edition, edited by Daniel Shealy: it’s gorgeous!

I just received my copy of Little Women An Annotated Edition, edited by Daniel Shealy and I was stunned by the beauty of the book!

Don’t be fooled by the cover -
it doesn’t begin to tell the story.

This is a gorgeous oversized edition (9.6 x 9.3 x 2 inches) with an elegant choice of typefaces. It is filled with color plates, letters written by Louisa and her publisher Thomas Niles and commentary on each page which enhances the reading experience.

Informative essays

Shealy introduces the book with an interesting essay about the extensive revisions made to the text between its original publication in 1868 and the revised version in the 1880s. In many respects the revisions were a response to negative criticism about the slang Alcott used throughout the book being a poor example for children! Fortunately Shealy uses the original text which is more vibrant and real.

Life turned into classic fiction

A second essay includes photos of each of the main players from the Alcott family. Alcott drew from the deep well of her personal life to bring Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, Marmee and Laurie to life. Shealy includes analysis of the era, fascinating anecdotes and great trivia.

Here is a summary from Amazon about the book:

Little Women has delighted and instructed readers for generations. For many, it is a favorite book first encountered in childhood or adolescence. Championed by Gertrude Stein, Simone de Beauvoir, Theodore Roosevelt, and J. K. Rowling, it is however much more than the “girls’ book” intended by Alcott’s first publisher. In this richly annotated, illustrated edition, Daniel Shealy illuminates the novel’s deep engagement with issues such as social equality, reform movements, the Civil War, friendship, love, loss, and of course the passage into adulthood.

The editor provides running commentary on biographical contexts (Did Alcott, like Jo, have a “mood pillow”?), social and historical contexts (When may a lady properly decline a gentleman’s invitation to dance?), literary allusions (Who is Mrs. Malaprop?), and words likely to cause difficulty to modern readers (What is a velvet snood? A pickled lime?). With Shealy as a guide, we appreciate anew the confusions and difficulties that beset the March sisters as they overcome their burdens and journey toward maturity and adulthood: beautiful, domestic-minded Meg, doomed and forever childlike Beth, selfish Amy, and irrepressible Jo. This edition examines the novel’s central question: How does one grow up well?

Little Women An Annotated Edition offers something for everyone. It will delight both new and returning readers, young and old, male and female alike, who will want to own and treasure this beautiful edition full of color illustrations and photographs.

I am hoping to get permission to show you some of the inside of this book. Stay tuned …

If you love Little Women, you will want this edition as a keepsake to pass down to future generations.

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Susan’s ebook, “Game Changer” is now available From the Garret – download for free!

April 7, 2013 by susanwbailey

The million dollar question, and the priceless answer

Following up with my last post about the lecture I attended at New North Church featuring John Matteson, author of Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father, there is a question I have wanted to ask Matteson since I started reading his book almost two years ago.

How is it that he understood so well the spirituality of Bronson Alcott?

I wanted to know if he had studied religion formally (perhaps gone to seminary) and/or if it was innate in him.

The answer to that question, in fact the whole thrust of the evening, proved to be a major affirmation of a revelation I had experienced a few days ago regarding writing. More on that later.

Response to the question

John Matteson answers questions during his presentation on Bronson Alcott.

I posed the question and Matteson’s face lit right up. He looked at me intently and never took his eyes off of me as he exclaimed his delight at the question. It was like I was the only person in the room and the connection we made was electric.

Christian Science background

He proceeded to share personal information about his upbringing as a Christian Scientist. For those unfamiliar with Christian Science, Wikipedia says,

“Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices belonging to the metaphysical–New Thought family of new religious movements. It was developed in the 19th century in the United States by Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), and was first described in her book Science and Health (1875), the religion’s central text. Four years later Eddy founded The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts … The religion’s adherents, known as Christian Scientists, subscribe to a radical form of philosophical idealism, believing that spiritual reality is the only reality and that the material world is an illusion.”

Personal connections

Mindy Jostyn

The moment he said he had been brought up in that tradition I understood. An acquaintance from high school, a multi-talented musician and singer/songwriter named Mindy Jostyn (who sadly passed away some years ago) was also a Christian Scientist. She produced two albums of stirring music, the most notable song being “In His Eyes,” one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard of God proclaiming His love for the individual. She had an aura about her, not just because of her immense talent, but because of the authenticity of her faith.

I knew where Matteson came from instantly. It was an intuitive thing, just as Ralph Waldo Emerson describes it. You just know.

From Christian Science to Transcendentalism

Having been immersed in Christian Science, Matteson went on to study Transcendentalism while at school. Reading Emerson’s essay, “Nature,” he recalls this section:

“We return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite spaces, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.”

The one to write about Bronson Alcott

He immediately made the connection, understanding intuitively what Emerson was saying. And I, watching him so enthused at being able to share these things with the audience, grasped why he not only understood Bronson Alcott in a unique way, he was meant to write about Bronson.

Transformation

Matteson in fact, said that he knew that the wondrous transformation that had happened in his life from the study of Transcendentalism, to the writing of Eden’s Outcasts, to the winning of the Pulitzer Prize and beyond, was not a series of random incidents. It was something that came from following his heart and the Spirit within him.

Affirmation

As I listened, I knew Matteson was telling and affirming my own story. I too have been transformed by my study of the Alcotts.

Evolution

This blog began as a means of finding other people as interested as I was in Louisa May Alcott. I never intended to be a writer. Since this blog debuted in August of 2010, I have evolved to where I now state unequivocally that I am a writer and I mean to write a book. The problem was how. I could not get my head around the process. I was missing a key element.

The missing piece

The writing of a piece for my monthly column in the local Catholic newspaper about Pope Francis, plus my recent post here about finding solace in Louisa pointed out what was missing. And Matteson affirmed it. It was the heart.

Following the heart

The writing I’ve done that has garnered the most attention has been those pieces I write from the heart. I could not figure out though how to write about the Alcotts and also write from an intensely personal point of view.

Silly, right? It’s obvious how much I love the Alcotts!

Matteson’s own journey

Matteson described how writing Eden’s Outcasts was an intensely personal experience and I can see why, now knowing his background. He was very involved in fathering his daughter just as Bronson fathered his daughters. He could relate to Bronson, the father.

He also understood the spiritual underpinning of Bronson; he could relate to Bronson, the mystic. Eden’s Outcasts is not only biographical; it’s autobiographical.

A new journey

illustration by Flora Smith from The Story of Louisa May Alcott by Joan Howard

And I knew at that moment just how to approach my book which will feature Lizzie and Louisa front and center. My book will be biographical and autobiographical. There are many ways that I relate to both Alcott sisters.

I ran into Jan Turnquist, executive director of Orchard House both at the beginning and end of the evening at New North Church. We mentioned how wonderful the lecture was and I expressed my excitement at Matteson’s response to my question. She replied that I had given him a gift. And I knew I had.

My question may have been worth a million but the answer – priceless.

Click to Tweet & Share: The million dollar question, and the priceless answer – a lecture on Bronson leads to personal revelation http://wp.me/p125Rp-1rM

Susan’s ebook, “Game Changer” is now available From the Garret – download for free!

April 5, 2013 by susanwbailey

An evening with John Matteson: Bronson Alcott as educator, the family’s relevance, and the author’s personal journey

The New North Church in downtown Hingham, MA

Hingham, Massachusetts’ New North Church has been running a three-part series on “The Alcotts” featuring Eve LaPlante (Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother, My Heart is Boundless: Writings of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa’s Mother), John Matteson (Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father) and Jan Turnquist (executive director of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House and noted portrayer of Louisa May Alcott).

Setting the stage:
Hingham’s relationship to the Alcott family

Yes, that is Jan Turnquist, executive director of Orchard House - maybe she is sitting in Abba's pew ...

Yes, that is Jan Turnquist (2nd row, L), executive director of Orchard House – maybe she is sitting in Abba’s pew …

New North Church set the stage perfectly. Built in 1807, it contains the original box pews and a magnificent mahogany altar. In his introduction Pastor Bill Turpie shared connections that the church and the town had with the Alcotts, including a tantalizing tidbit regarding Abba, who attended services while visiting friends in Hingham just before she married Bronson. One of us could have been sitting in the very pew where she sat!

Hingham hosted other family members as well. Abba’s brother, the Rev. Samuel May, an early abolitionist, studied under Hingham preachers while Bronson Alcott lectured at the Loring Hall shortly after the closing of the Temple School in Boston in 1841.

Bronson Alcott, educator

John Matteson delivers a lecture on Bronson Alcott.

John Matteson was the presenter that night and his topic was Bronson Alcott. He is an engaging lecturer mixing infectious passion with bits of dry humor. From the pulpit that towers over the congregation he spoke of Bronson’s educational techniques which consisted of drawing knowledge out of children through the art of conversation. Bronson believed that children were divine celestial beings possessing insight that is long forgotten by adults. Record of a School, compiled by then teaching assistant Elizabeth Peabody and his own Conversations with Children on the Gospels reveal that insight.

School and family

The Temple School

School to Bronson was akin to the home and he sought to create a family atmosphere (one reason why he insisted on having female teaching assistants, to mimic a father and a mother). Under the influence of German philosopher Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi’s pamphlet “Hints to Parents,” Bronson’s Temple School embodied the comfortable atmosphere of home.

Success and failure

For a time the Temple School flourished until the publication of Conversations with Children on the Gospels. The provocative nature of those conversations proved too much for provincial Boston; that along with the admittance of an African American girl closed the school.

Father and daughter

sample of a letter from Bronson Alcott to Louisa when she was seven.

Sample page of a letter from Bronson Alcott to Louisa on her 7th birthday, from “Little Women Letters from the House of Alcott”

Matteson admires Bronson Alcott but is quick to point out Alcott’s autocratic, manipulative and overbearing style, especially when it came to his own children. Matteson shared a letter written to Louisa for her tenth birthday where Bronson begins by pleading with Louisa to let him into her life (employing guilt) and then pointing out a long list of his daughter’s faults.

The model for Plumfield

Matteson then provided an interesting comparison between the Temple School and the fictional Plumfield of Little Men. He concluded that in actuality, Plumfield imitated Fruitlands because of its melding together of family life and school; in essence daily living within a family unit (whether it be a biological or consociate family) constituted education. Temple School presented academics in a more formal setting. The difference, of course is that Plumfield was a rousing success, influencing generations of readers while Fruitlands was a failure.

The state of education today

Matteson concluded his lecture with a lament about education today and the total lack of community that Bronson had advocated. As a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, he pointed out that education happens in the classroom alone with little else going between students and teachers in the halls and common areas of the school.

(Click here for related posts on John Matteson’s take on Bronson from Eden’s Outcasts).

Q & A

John Matteson answers questions during his presentation on Bronson Alcott.

Coming down from the pulpit, Matteson then came to his favorite portion of the program, the question and answer segment. Members of the audience asked terrific questions including these: Did Matteson know of any alumnae from the Temple School that could testify to its efficacy? Why the title of Eden’s Outcasts? Why the focus on Bronson Alcott? Is the Alcott family relevant to today’s world?

A personal journey

Matteson shared that Eden’s Outcasts was in fact, an intensely personal work. At the time of the writing of the book, he was very involved in the raising of his daughter Rebecca, now nineteen and a freshman at Wellesley College. He was able to relate to Bronson as one father to another.

Great relevance

The only known portrait of the Alcott family from www.louisamayalcott.org

The only known portrait of the Alcott family from http://www.louisamayalcott.org

He vigorously affirmed the questioner who asked about the relevance of the Alcotts, pointing to their long and winding road to happiness. With character and talents purified by trial and consistent hard work, most members of the family achieved a form of happiness and success even if it was late in the game. Bronson himself did not start to experience success until after the publication of Little Women in 1868 and he was able to revel in that success for years to come. Louisa toiled in obscurity for some twenty years before hitting the jackpot with Little Women. Younger sister May was on the threshold of success as a professional artist before death took her prematurely.

A definition of happiness that endures

Matteson believes the Alcotts are relevant because of the values they lived so well: generosity, hard work and a commitment to reform and to each other. Despite all the hardship, the family remained a strong, loving unit. A running theme in Louisa’s novels is that happiness is not necessarily getting what you think you want. In Little Women, none of the sisters got exactly what they wished for when mapping out their “castles in the air.” Yet what they got made them truly happy (and that even accounts for Beth who undoubtedly took the fast track to Heaven.)

A tease …

Having long wanted to ask Matteson a particular question, I got my chance. That question sparked an electric exchange and a watershed moment for me as a writer.

And you’ll have to wait until the next post to find out about that moment!

Click to Tweet & Share: An evening w/John Matteson: Bronson Alcott as educator, the family’s relevance, & the author’s personal journey http://wp.me/p125Rp-1ra

Susan’s ebook, “Game Changer” is now available From the Garret – download for free!

March 31, 2013 by susanwbailey

The solace I find in reading, writing and Louisa May Alcott

I rarely devote posts to personal musings but I just had to today.

We just dropped off our twenty-seven year-old son at the bus station as he makes his way back to New York after a week at our home. He was granted an unexpected vacation from his job as a preschool teacher and was longing for some peace and quiet, away from small children, the noisy city and his very busy life.

One of the toughest aspects to me of being a mother are these comings and goings. My husband and I enjoy our quiet life post-children so it’s always an adjustment having them back in the house. It’s worth the adjustment because I love being with both of my grown children, sharing in their lives, talking about their problems and their dreams.

Every sacrifice I ever made as a mother with regards to sleep, my body, my career and my art I would make again in a heartbeat. The love and companionship of a child, even a grown adult child, fills a very special place in my life.

And, after every visit I grieve. The child goes back to his or her life and I go home and have a good cry. It seems that, at least for that moment, nothing will console me.

It is then that I turn to a book, usually about Louisa. This time it was My Heart is Boundless: Writings of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa’s Mother edited by Eve LaPlante. I guess, instinctively, I needed to read about another mother’s love and commitment to her children.

In no time I lost myself in the past, reading letters from Abba to her brother Sam and his wife Lucretia about the birth of Anna Bronson Alcott. The lines she wrote of her euphoria at having a healthy baby girl, and the subsequent letters detailing the joy she felt in being a mother to this child really spoke to this mother’s heart. Soon I felt consoled.

One of the greatest gifts of my life is this newfound love of reading, writing and studying the life of Louisa May Alcott. It began as a means of finding others who also loved Louisa and grew into something far more. It is a source of great joy, deep fulfillment and a means of discovering the validity of my own creative expression.

For the first time in my fifty seven years, I have fully embraced the creative in me. Rather than fight with it or run away from it or even dread it, I now revel in it. It often feels like a long drink of cool water after too much time out in the sun. It is deeply satisfying.

It has taken me eight years to adjust to being an empty nester and I’m sure I will continue to suffer setbacks. But reading, writing and studying Louisa May Alcott fills the void to overflowing.

I shed my tears missing my son. Two hours later I am writing this after enjoying time with one of the world’s great mothers, Abigail May Alcott.

Life is good.

Click to Tweet & Share: The solace I find in reading, writing and Louisa May Alcott http://wp.me/p125Rp-1r3

Susan’s ebook, “Game Changer” is now available From the Garret – download for free!

Giving value to domesticity

A surprising choice . . .

. . . and an unexpected teacher

Rose’s achievement

Appreciating the art of domesticity

Family example

Make homemaking fun

Playing cook

A balance of ideas

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Sources in the writer’s own hand

Worth the effort

From sister to brother

Looking for answers

Inspired by her surroundings

From iconic Marmee to real mother

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Behind a Mask: Six Women Finding a Space to Write

This is a breakdown of the film from Films on Demand:

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Every detail you could ever want

Many ways to read

For the fan and the scholar

Serious facts, fun trivia

Louisa and her alter ego, Jo

Classic illustrations through the ages

Picture, pictures and more pictures

Totally worth it

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Here’s a tease.

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Don’t be fooled by the cover - it doesn’t begin to tell the story.

Informative essays

Life turned into classic fiction

Here is a summary from Amazon about the book:

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Response to the question

Christian Science background

Personal connections

From Christian Science to Transcendentalism

The one to write about Bronson Alcott

Transformation

Affirmation

Evolution

The missing piece

Following the heart

Matteson’s own journey

A new journey

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Setting the stage: Hingham’s relationship to the Alcott family

Bronson Alcott, educator

School and family

Success and failure

Father and daughter

The model for Plumfield

The state of education today

Q & A

A personal journey

Great relevance

A definition of happiness that endures

A tease …

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Don’t be fooled by the cover -
it doesn’t begin to tell the story.

Setting the stage:
Hingham’s relationship to the Alcott family