May 30, 2013 by susanwbailey

Book Review: Fruitlands Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect by Gloria Whelan

One of you (Julie) gifted me with a wonderful book and once I picked it up, I could not put it down. The book, geared for older children, is called Fruitlands Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect by Gloria Whelan.

A lost diary

The premise of the book is based on Louisa’s diary kept at Fruitlands. This was her first diary and sadly, only a few pages survive. They were miraculously found in the wall of the Fruitlands house years ago. Gloria Whelan maintains that Bronson destroyed much of it as he had also destroyed Anna’s kept during that time.

A tale of two diaries

Whelan through the power of storytelling restores it. But, she not only restores it, she presents two diaries, one written for public consumption as was the custom in the family, and one kept secret. In the first entry of the secret diary Louisa writes, “In the first diary there will be Louy, who will try to be just what Mother and Father would wish. In the second diary there will be Louisa, just as she is.”

Knowing that privacy was in short supply in the lives of the Alcotts, I had to work a bit to accept the premise but once I did I was swept into this book.

Real children

Whelan is the writer I wish to be. She is a masterful storyteller, revealing so much through the details, dialog and actions of the characters. She fleshes out each child by comparing how they’d respond to a situation. From Louisa’s secret diary: “Lizzie is good-natured and listens patiently to all the questions that Father puts to us. Anna tries hard to give the correct answers, but sometimes when the questions are difficult she pleads a headache and slips away. I say what comes into my head and know at once it is a foolish answer. I wish I could learn to keep my silence.”

Big sis Anna

Anna normally considered the “good girl,” the counterpart to Bronson, is cast in a somewhat unflattering light. She did indeed exhibit Bronson’s ways, especially his penchant for being judgmental. She did everything she could to please him at the expense of her sisters. Typical of an older sister, she never failed to lord it over Louisa and point out her faults.

Little sis Lizzie

Lizzie is Louisa’s safe haven. Whelan presents a flesh and blood little girl that we could truly love through the gentle actions, words of encouragement and total acceptance that she offered to everyone. In her public diary entry, Louisa recounts being rude to Mr. Lane (a common occurrence): Mr. Lane then talked with us upon the subject that all men are equal. I was rude and impertinent, for I asked Mr. Lane if we are all equal, why should be always be the one to tell us what to do? Even Mother was angry with my rudeness. I cried and begged Mr. Lane’s pardon.” In the private diary entry she recounts crying into her pillow and how “Lizzie crept over and put her arm around me. Anna asked, “Louy, why must you always say just what you think?”

A rich and complex child

Through these diaries, Whelan paints a detailed picture of a complex child, acutely aware of her surroundings and compelled to speak her mind despite the consequence. I found myself engulfed in her soaring imagination as she organized games with the other children, pretending to be fairies, witches and characters from Shakespeare. Often Louisa would explore her darker side through the parts she chose to play making me think of the potboilers and thrillers she’d indulge in as an adult, stories ironically that would keep the family financially afloat.

A room of one’s own

from essitolling.wordpress.com

Whelan described an exquisite place outdoors that Louisa claimed as the room of her own where she could write and think: “I found a weeping willow tree. It stands close to the river, and its overhanging branches form a curtain. When I pushed the branches aside, there was a leafy tent I could craw inside and be invisible to all … The breeze gently moves the trailing branches this way and that, so that first one part of the land is visible, and then another. It is as if pages in a book of pictures are being turned for me.”

Building tensions

The best part of this book was the “slow burn:” the building desperation, not only of how the extended family would survive but Louisa’s own desperation with herself and all the criticism she took from the adults. I could feel the weight of the oppression on her as she was undermined again and again by her father and Charles Lane. Whelan creates a keen sense of claustrophobia not only physically with the dwindling supplies and the fierce winter closing in, but psychologically as the community shrinks in membership and slowly breaks down into chaos.

Public and private

There were times when the choice of language and the conclusions drawn by Louisa seemed too mature for a girl of 10, despite her “old soul,” but in most cases, the diary entries rang with Louisa’s voice. What truly propelled the book was the ploy of first featuring Louisa’s entry for the masses followed by the entry from her heart. I couldn’t wait to read further and find out her take on the story.

The greatest complement I could pay this book? It ended far too soon. I’m reading it again. Thanks, Julie!

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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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April 30, 2013 by susanwbailey

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 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.

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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 5, 2013 by susanwbailey

Book Review: Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War Led to Little Women by Kathleen Krull; illustrated by Carlyn Beccia

How did serving as one of the first nurses of the Civil War lead to Louisa May Alcott’s runaway best seller, Little Women? Children’s author Kathleen Krull explores this journey in a delightful picture book entitled Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War led to Little Women, published by Walker & Company, New York.

Making extensive use of Hospital Sketches plus quotes from Louisa’s journals, Krull tells the story of Louisa’s burning desire to participate in the historic war by means of serving as a nurse. She writes,

“ ‘I long to be a man,’ Louisa May Alcott scribbled one day, ‘but as I can’t fight, I will content myself with working for those who can.’ Coming from a family that was part of the Underground Railroad to shelter runaway slaves, she burned to help the war effort.”

Krull presents a very human Louisa, fighting her fears and frustrations during the long and complex journey to Washington, D.C. by train and ferry. One gets the sense of a sheltered woman experiencing the outside world for the first time, working through those fears and embracing the excitement of being out on her own.

Krull’s lively descriptions, complemented by Caryln Beccia’s vivid and colorful illustrations, transports the reader into the thick of the action at the Union Hotel hospital where the wounded stream in after the infamous Battle of Fredericksburg. Again Louisa must confront her fears to care for the men: bathing them, comforting them during surgeries (where often either was not available), reading to them, writing letters, listening and keeping up their spirits. Hiding her own emotions behind a sharp wit, Louisa uses the Charles Dickens books she had brought to entertain her patients.

Krull conveys the attachment that Louisa has to her “boys” along with the pride she takes in her work and her sense of being a part of history in the making.

She describes the letters Louisa sent home, letters full of “snap and bite.” These correspondences would later lead to her first real success as a writer, Hospital Sketches.

Louisa pays a high price for her service with a serious illness that left her with lifelong ailments. Krull writes,

“Yet she had no regrets: ‘All that is best and bravest in the hearts of men and women, comes out in scenes like these; and though a hospital is a rough school,’ she had learned so much about human nature – and herself.”

Krull sets the logical course for Hospital Sketches and Little Women, citing Louisa’s desire to make money for the family through her writing. In the course of compiling Hospital Sketches, Louisa realizes that she has found her style, that of writing from her own experience, combining her humor with her large heart.

Krull then chronicles Louisa’s writing of Little Women; here Beccia’s illustrations really shine, complete with a composite of scenes surrounding a portrait of the author with pen in hand.

Illustration by Carylyn Beccia copyright 2013 , published by Walker & Co., NY

Wrapping up her experience with the Civil War and its after-effects Krull writes,

“Being a war veteran was the key to all that she accomplished: ‘My greatest pride is . . . that I had a very small share in the war which put an end to a great wrong.’

It was service to her country that made Louisa May Alcott the author of books that would live forever.”

Louisa May’s Battle shares an accurate and fleshed-out version of Louisa while highlighting an important universal theme: that stepping outside the comfort zone and working for the greater good can lead to accomplishments never before imagined.

This book is beautifully designed, well-presented, and will engage young readers in a wonderful story about a woman who dared to be brave despite the hardship.

Louisa May’s Battle may be found at your favorite bookstore, on Amazon, and on BarnesandNoble.com.

Click to Tweet & Share: Book Review: Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War Led to Little Women by Kathleen Krull http://wp.me/p125Rp-1pP

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

February 18, 2013 by susanwbailey

New releases coming! New annotated Little Women edited by Daniel Shealy; plus book on Louisa May Alcott and Edith Wharton

Get your credit cards ready! Here are two new exciting releases coming up this year for Louisa May Alcott lovers.

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I found out about this one from Daniel Shealy. We conversed recently about his volume on Louisa’s fantasy stories (which I will be writing about soon). This looks like a wonderful addition to make to my library: (all the information below comes directly from Amazon.com:

Little Women: An Annotated Edition

Louisa May Alcott (Author), Daniel Shealy (Editor) Release date: March 25, 2013

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.

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.

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Thanks to a husband who totally supports this passion of mine (thank you, Rich!) I found out about this book, scheduled to be released in July of this year:

(from Amazon) Publication Date: July 9, 2013 | Series: Becoming Modern: New Nineteenth-Century Studies

Sacramental Shopping: Louisa May Alcott, Edith Wharton, and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism

(Becoming Modern: New Nineteenth-Century Studies) [Paperback]
Sarah Way Sherman (Author)

Written a generation apart and rarely treated together by scholars, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (1868) and Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth (1905) share a deep concern with materialism, moral development, and self-construction. The heroines in both grapple with conspicuous consumption, an aspect of modernity that challenges older beliefs about ethical behavior and core identity.

Placing both novels at the historical intersection of modern consumer culture and older religious discourses on materialism and identity, Sarah Way Sherman analyzes how Alcott and Wharton rework traditional Protestant discourses to interpret their heroines’ struggle with modern consumerism. Her conclusion reveals how Little Women‘s optimism, still buoyed by otherworldly justice, providential interventions, and the notion of essential identity, ultimately gives way to the much darker vision of modern materialistic culture in The House of Mirth.

Sarah Way Sherman is an associate professor of English and American studies at the University of New Hampshire.

I just placed my order.

Click to Tweet & Share: Scoop, new books coming out! Little Women, edited by Daniel Shealy + book on Louisa May Alcott & Edith Wharton http://wp.me/p125Rp-1p5

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

February 4, 2013 by susanwbailey

Introducing the first official French biography of Louisa May Alcott

Sometime ago I was contacted by Charline Bourdin who blogs about Louisa May Alcott in France. She recently authored a book on Louisa’s life, published by Devin Editions.

Titled Louisa May Alcott Ou la véritable histoire de Josephine March, this is the first official biography of Louisa in French.

Charline Bourdin was born in Rouen, France. She studied literature before becoming a secretary in a high school. Her favorite authors are especially Anglo-Saxon: Lewis Carroll, Jane Austen, Lucy Maud Montgomery, and of course, Louisa May Alcott whom she discovered when she was nineteen. Charline is very interested also in the life of younger sister May Alcott Nieriker; She currently resides in Meudon where May lived.

Charline was kind enough to send me a copy of the book for my library plus one I requested for Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. Last Thursday I presented the book to Lis Adams, Education Coordinator at Orchard House.

I encourage you to visit Charline’s excellent blog; Google will translate the French into English. In her latest post, she put up a beautiful set of photos of Grez Sur Loing where May spent a summer in 1877. In such a picturesque place, one can certainly imagine gracious and statuesque May, armed with her enthusiasm and sketching pad and pencils producing many wonderful sketches and perhaps a painting or two.

Louisa’s legacy continues to grow and spread!

Click to Tweet & Share: Introducing the first official French biography of Louisa May Alcott http://wp.me/p125Rp-1o0

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

A lost diary

A tale of two diaries

Real children

Big sis Anna

Little sis Lizzie

Building tensions

Public and private

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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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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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Little Women: An Annotated Edition

Sacramental Shopping: Louisa May Alcott, Edith Wharton, and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism

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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