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.

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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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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.

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

February 28, 2013 by susanwbailey

Wrapping up Work A Story of Experience: The Spiritual Subplot

I acknowledge that Work: A Story of Experience is an important feminist work (see previous post). It was groundbreaking in that respect and makes it a relevant book for today in understanding the condition of single working women in the nineteen century. Work would be an especially valuable read for women of the Millennial generation who have not lived through the struggles of their predecessors.

Examining a subplot

I believe, however, that Work is also an important religious work. While Louisa was never a member of any particular congregation, she was a lifelong seeker. Her frustration with conventional religion is summed up in a stinging summation in chapter 7, “Into the Mist” (see previous post). Christie’s spiritual journey is nuanced, gritty and authentic. It’s an exquisite look inside the heart, mind and soul of the author.

Chapter 19, “Little Heart’s-Ease” demonstrates Christie’s spiritual growth in the way she works through her grief over David’s death and how she perceives a sacred moment in the mundane.

Mystic insight

In his essay, “Nature,” Ralph Waldo Emerson refers to the “transparent eyeball:” “Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — 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.” (from chapter one). Contemporary spiritual writer Richard Rohr in his book The Naked Now employs a similar term of the “third eye.” Both authors are describing the insight of a mystic, that of being able to discern God in all things no matter how mundane, and being one with all things.

The ability to discern God in everyday life, to “read between the lines,” so to speak, is a precious gift of sight, most likely what Jesus was referring to with comments such as ” … blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear …” (Matthew 13:16). He often spoke these words after relaying a parable, knowing that many would not grasp the meaning, but others would “see.”

Insight leading to consolation

David’s death drawing by Sol Eytinge, http://archive.org/details/workastoryofexpe04770gut

Christie’s search for religion granted her that sight, giving her a beautiful experience of consolation.

Despite comforting words from the Rev. Power, Christie would not be consoled without a concrete sign: “Christie could not be content with this invisible, intangible recompense for her hero: she wanted to see, to know beyond a doubt, that justice had been done …”

Louisa then writes,

“Then, when no help seemed possible, she found it where she least expected it, in herself. Searching for religion, she had found love: now seeking to follow love she found religion. The desire for it had never left her, and, while serving others, she was earning this reward; for when her life seemed to lie in ashes, from their midst, this slender spire of flame, purifying while it burned, rose trembling toward heaven; showing her how great sacrifices turn to greater compensations; giving her light, warmth, and consolation, and teaching her the lesson all must learn.”

Hearing David’s “voice”

Sitting in David’s room one day, surrounded by his things, Christie experiences the sign she sought. In the stillness she hears a melodious sound as a gentle breeze brushes past David’s flute. She can “hear” the music of that flute that she once dubbed as David’s “voice,” expressing all the joys and sorrows of his life that he never shared in words. The sign had been given:

“Ah, yes! this was a better answer than any supernatural voice could have given her; a more helpful sign than any phantom face or hand; a surer confirmation of her hope than subtle argument or sacred promise: for it brought back the memory of the living, loving man so vividly, so tenderly, that Christie felt as if the barrier was down, and welcomed a new sense of David’s nearness with the softest tears that had flowed since she closed the serene eyes whose last look had been for her.”

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

Thoreau’s flute
From the collection at the Concord Free Public Library http://www.concordlibrary.org

This passage struck a chord in me for I too experienced such a sign on the day of my mother’s funeral.

A series of personal signs

It was April 22 and the day was warmer than usual. The sky was as deep a blue as I had ever seen it. Spring was several weeks early that year, resulting in a burst of floral beauty. The air was alive with birdsong. The season was at its peak.

The chapel in the Unitarian Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts was decorated with a stunning arrangement of flowers favoring a purple theme.

Unitarian Church in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts

This was the first sign for my mother loved flowers and birds, having studied Botany at Wellesley College and then working for the department for several years. One of her jobs was to help arrange the flowers for the annual Boston Flower Show display.

The chapel was filled to overflowing with family and friends. After the formal eulogy given by my older sister, her husband rose to speak. His recollections of my mother were funny and poignant considering the complex nature of their relationship. An alpha male, Tom choked up remembering his mother-in-law who lived next door to his family’s home for so many years.

Tom’s comments were followed by neighbors who stood up and recalled memories of my mother and father encouraging the neighborhood children to sled and play on the hill in their yard. My mother’s intense interest in the lives of everyone around her was recalled with humor and affection.

A second sign, for my mother in her dementia and despair, had felt unworthy of love. Her friends and family had not forgotten her.

I remember approaching the casket after the room had emptied, kissing it and saying, “I told you so! I told you that you were loved!”

At the internment as my husband, a deacon in the Eastern Catholic Church, said the prayers over the grave, a chipping sparrow sat overhead singing his spring song.

A third sign. I knew then for sure that my mother was safely home with God.

As with Christie, these signs were like the parables of Jesus: many would hear but only some would actually “see.”

The crux and the heart of Work

While the crux of Work is its feminist message, the heart of the story lies in Christie’s inner life. In this thinly veiled autobiography, we not only learn of Louisa’s working life with its struggles and triumphs but also of the woman within, so keenly attuned to that still, small voice within, ever searching for connection and meaning.

Like most good writers, Louisa was gifted with insight and relentless curiosity. A deep connection to something greater than herself was a key element of that insight, enabling her indeed to see with that “third eye.”

It’s what keeps me coming back for more.

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

February 21, 2013 by susanwbailey

Taking Louisa May Alcott is My Passion on the road – teaching a class at Norwalk Community College for the Lifetime Learners Institute

This blog has led me places I never thought I would go! One of those places was Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, CT where I donned a hat I have not worn since a year after I graduated from college with a BS in Elementary Education: the hat of a teacher.

A longtime reader of this blog, Nancy Gluck of the Silver Threads blog, invited me a year ago to teach a class in her multi-part series on Louisa May Alcott offered through the Lifetime Learners Institute at Norwalk Community College.

A snowstorm last fall cancelled the first attempt but on February 20, Mother Nature cooperated and I was able to conduct the class in front of forty wonderfully engaged students.

It was here that I shared the story of my lifelong friendship with Louisa May Alcott, beginning with a children’s biography (The Story of Louisa May Alcott by Joan Howard), growing in intensity over the years as I read more and more about her life, and culminating with this blog. I used all the different biographies about Louisa and books by her that I’ve read as the vehicle and provided an extensive reading list for my students.

I shared about all the adventures I’ve had because of this friendship with Louisa; reading adventures that have so broadened my mind, visits to the Concord Library Special Collections and Houghton Library at Harvard (and the privilege of reading papers written in Louisa’s hand), meeting authors, scholars and librarians, and best of all, meeting so many others like myself who just love Louisa and her work. My intention was the inspire the students with the desire to read, learn and pursue their own passion. and see where it will take them.

Nancy Gluck is one of those people, a new friend that I am delighted to have. Meeting her has introduced me to a most extraordinary association, the Lifetime Learners Institute at Norwalk Community College.. Here is a perfect partnership of older people eager to learn and the institution that can provide the opportunity. Both groups work together and enhance the community. I am hoping Central Massachusetts holds similar opportunities.

I am more than happy to continue bringing Louisa May Alcott is My Passion to colleges, libraries and churches in the New England area. If your organization is interested in hosting me, write me at louisamayalcottismypassion@gmail.com and let’s talk!

Click to Tweet & Share: Taking Louisa May Alcott is My Passion on the road – teaching a class at Norwalk Community College http://wp.me/p125Rp-1pj

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

December 2, 2012 by susanwbailey

Meet and greet with author Eve LaPlante at Fruitlands

I had the pleasure of having my books signed by author Eve LaPlante at Fruitlands yesterday. The setting was lovely: typically cold for December with light snow falling.

The spirit of Fruitlands

Having just completed a series of books on Fruitlands (which I will be writing about soon), the spirit of the Fruitlanders was palpable to me. I pictured the Alcotts and Charles Lane huddled inside the drafty house and felt the cold, not only of the air, but of the oppressive tension that surely hung in the air. Food was unappetizing, whatever was left of it, and the fire in the fireplace could not throw off enough heat or cheer to help.

Setting the stage

The situation was desperate and very soon, a brave mother of four would make a life or death decision that would save her family but put her own future at risk.

Recalling the enormous struggles Abigail Alcott faced at Fruitlands and throughout her married life set the stage for Eve LaPlante’s presentation for her books, Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother and My Heart is Boundless: Writings of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa’s Mother.

She spoke of the problem of a public woman.

Hunger for knowledge

LaPlante recalled Abigail’s love of learning and the bitterness of being denied the formal education that her brother (and all men) was entitled to. Abigail certainly had the intellect as demonstrated by her successful year of study at a Duxbury boarding school through a certain Miss Allen. Samuel Joseph, older brother and mentor, had arranged it all, empathizing with his younger sister. He continued to provide her with the books he himself had studied.

Passing down gifts and dreams

from the cover of Marmee and Louisa by Eve LaPlante

Abigail loved to learn and she passed down that love to daughter Louisa who was also gifted intellectually.

LaPlante mentioned Abigail’s desire to use her gifts; she had dreamed of teaching and writing and resisted getting married until she met Bronson. Here was a man, she thought, with whom she could live out those dreams.

In the end, she poured herself into her daughters and helped one to become a world famous author.

Restricted life

LaPlante spoke passionately and eloquently of the cultural norms that severely restricted Abigail, frustrated Louisa and caused great distress for Bronson. They were all square pegs who did not wish to fit into round holes.

Basic rights for women

Abigail was an early supporter of women’s suffrage and she passed this down to Louisa. It was a risky stance to take – even Samuel Joseph’s wife Lucretia did not support it despite the fact that her husband advocated for it!

LaPlante used a scene in Concord in 1875 to illustrate one particularly odious norm of women not appearing in public, based upon a literal interpretation of a passage of scripture from St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” (1 Timothy 2:12, New International Version ©1984)

President Ulysses S. Grant visited Concord for the centenary of the start of the American Revolution and Abigail and Louisa were there to hear him speak. Louisa recalled men scoffing at them for appearing in public and wrote that she was “ashamed of Concord that day.”

She would soon live out her mother’s dream of women voting by being the first to vote in Concord for a local election.

Book signings

After LaPlante’ s presentation a lively discussion ensued with the audience, mostly centering on her marriage to Bronson. With the Fruitlands farmhouse off in the distance as seen through the windows of the Wayside presentation room, this seemed like an appropriate conclusion to the presentation.

LaPlante signed several books after her presentation and graciously went back up the steep hill to the museum shop to sign more.

I very much enjoyed talking with her and having my two questions addressed: the dichotomy of Abba’s relationship with Bronson (idolizing and encouraging her husband in his utopian schemes while at the same time expressing great frustration and anger at his unwillingness to take on paying work), and how Samuel Joseph, also a reformer and activist, balanced family life with his activism.

Of course I had my two books signed:

Here’s my review of Marmee & Louisa.

Check out LaPlante’s website to see if she will be doing a book signing in your area.

Click to Tweet & Share: Meet and greet with author Eve LaPlante at Fruitlands http://wp.me/p125Rp-1kD

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

December 1, 2012 by susanwbailey

Book Review: Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother by Eve LaPlante

This is a book that is long overdue.

Anyone who has read Little Women and felt the overarching presence of Marmee (and the lack of presence of Mr. March) has to know just how important Louisa’s mother was to her. Marmee was based on a living, breathing woman who was far more complex (and interesting) in real life.

Since it was unthinkable for a women of that era to have any sort of public life, Abigail Alcott had been relegated to the shadows while husband Bronson was celebrated as the great influence on his famous author daughter.

Abba as muse

If one carefully reads between the lines, one will note that Louisa never understood nor adopted her father’s lofty philosophies (although Transcendentalism certainly permeated her work). And rather than encourage his bold and brilliant daughter, Bronson disapproved of Louisa for much of her life. It was only when she nearly lost her life as a Civil War nurse that he came around to appreciating her level of self-sacrificing love.

While there is no doubt he was an influence, Abigail May Alcott was the muse, as author Eve LaPlante so aptly puts it in Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother.

New sources, neglected sources

LaPlante reveals new sources from her own mother’s attic trunk along with papers that have been available for years at the Houghton Library at Harvard which were overlooked. It’s especially appropriate that a blood relative should right the wrong by revealing the real Abigail Alcott for the first time and tell so compellingly how she nurtured, supported and influenced Louisa.

The better writer?

Madelon Bedell in The Alcotts: Biography of a Family dared to suggest that Abigail was the better writer and Marmee & Louisa demonstrates this. Abba’s writing is lucid, electric, clear and passionate, revealing great insight.

Gifts that did not go to waste

Abba was gifted with a sharp intellect and love of learning, traits that Louisa inherited and were carefully developed through her mother’s nurturing and example.

There is no doubt she also had a share of her father’s intellect but a big dose of her mother’s pragmatism gave it a vehicle for use.

Both women were denied a formal education but in many ways, the rich lives they led through the good and the bad, coupled with the towering giants they knew in their lifetime (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, William Lloyd Garrison, Rev. Theodore Parker, etc.) more than made up for the loss.

Understanding through family background

Brother Samuel Joseph May

LaPlante reveals much about Abigail’s own family life which is key to understanding this woman who was so far ahead of her time.

The close relationship she enjoyed with older brother Samuel Joseph, an activist Unitarian minister and early subscriber to the abolition of slavery and women’s suffrage, is key. Although Abigail was denied a college education since that was only granted to males at that time, Samuel shared many of his books with her and encouraged her desire to learn.

There’s an intimacy in the writing that you can only get from one relative writing about another which gives this book added meaning. Yet LaPlante does not lean on this laurel but provides substantial research to back up her claims.

Story connections

I especially enjoyed the connections LaPlante drew between the stories Abigail shared with Louisa and the way Louisa wove these stories so seamlessly throughout her writing. It certainly merits revisiting Louisa’s works after reading Marmee & Louisa.

Advocates for women

Abigail and Louisa were on the cutting edge of the Women’s Suffrage movement (with Louisa being the first woman to vote in her hometown of Concord) along with Samuel Joseph May. The writings of Abigail Alcott demonstrate clearly the plight of women in the early and mid 1800s, full of potential but unable to live autonomous lives due to conventional society.

Louisa paid a price for her independence but it surely did her mother’s heart good to see her daughter succeed outside of the confines of society.

Marital relations

LaPlante offers penetrating insight into the complex and difficult marriage of Louisa’s parents. At times Abba idolizes Bronson, promoting his ideals and supporting his utopian schemes, most notably the Fruitlands experiment.

She was, after all, attracted to him because of his ideas, perhaps hoping to work by his side to make the world a better place.

She soon learned that the great philosopher with his head in the clouds could not live an earthly life. Her journals are full of anger, distress and resentment at the endless poverty that ensued. Her writing is powerful and the feelings, palpable.

LaPlante notes how much time the couple spent apart, perhaps recognizing that this arrangement was necessary for a more harmonious co-existance.

My verdict?

This review is just the tip of the iceberg; Marmee & Louisa is an important book and a lively read. It will surely loom large in Alcott lore as an important missing piece to the puzzle of Louisa May Alcott

I highly recommend it.

Have you read it? What do you think?

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

October 19, 2012 by susanwbailey

What was Louisa May Alcott really like? The memories of her “adopted” brother

Of all the memoirs written by people who knew the Alcotts well, none provided more detailed descriptions of family members than Frederick Llewellyn Hovey Willis’ book, Alcott Memoirs. In a series of posts, I will share with you his impressions of each member of this illustrious family.

Willis’ daughter Ellen who compiled the memoir described her father as a “Unitarian clergyman, a doctor of medicine, a lecturer of some renown, a nature lover, and a writer of power and charm.” (page 11, Alcott Memoirs Posthumously Compiled from Papers, Journals and Memoranda of the late Dr. Frederick L. H. Willis by E. W. L. & H. B.)

Orphaned in his childhood, Willis was taken in by Abba and Bronson at the age of fourteen and spent many subsequent summers with the family. He was considered a son and brother, regarded with deep affection by the family. He enjoyed an unusual level of intimacy with them and recorded his thoughts generously.

I begin with his description of Louisa, who regarded him as the brother she had always longed for:

[Louisa] had a clear olive-brown complexion with brown hair and eyes. She answered perfectly an ideal of the “Nut Brown Maid”; she was full of spirit and life; … impulsive and moody, and at times irritable and nervous. She could run like a gazelle. She was the most beautiful girl runner I ever saw. She could leap a fence or climb a tree as well as any boy and dearly loved a good romp. We have many times clambered together into the topmost branches of the tall trees at Hillside. She was passionately fond of Nature, loved the fields and the forests and was in special harmony with animal life. Her brief and racy description of herself in the opening chapter of “Little Women” is most accurately true: “Fifteen-year-old Jo was very tall, thin and brown and reminded one of a colt, for she never seemed to know what to do with her long limbs which were very much in her way. She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, and sharp gray eyes which appeared to see everything and were by turn fierce, funny, or thoughtful. Her long thick hair was her one beauty, but it was usually bundled into a net out of the way. Round shoulders had Joe, big hands and feet, a fly-away look to her clothes and the un comfortable appearance of a girl who was rapidly shooting up into a woman, and didn’t like it.”

Louisa May Alcott at around age 25 (Wikipedia)

Louisa had great love of personal beauty and wide open eyes were her especial admiration. Her own were rather small and, as mine were also, we heartily sympathized with each other on this point. One day after the family had moved to Boston she was walking upon Washington Street. The thought came to her: “Now if I keep my eyes open people will think that I have beautiful large eyes” so she fixed her eyes in the manner she thought would impart the most captivating expression to her face and continued her promenade. She began to notice that many looked at her intently, and thought as a child might, they were admiring her beautiful eyes, mentally congratulating herself upon the success of her efforts. I had called during her absence and upon her return sat chatting with Anna and her mother. As she entered the room I exclaimed, “Why, Louisa, what on earth ails you?” She made no reply, but walked directly to the mirror, giving, the instant she looked into it, a shriek of horror. She had retained the expression upon her face that she had imagined so enhanced its beauty until she could get to a mirror and ob serve for herself its effect, discovering, to her dismay, that she had been parading Washington Street with an insane stare upon her face. Her effort to keep her eyelids open to their widest possible extent had contracted the skin of her forehead into wrinkles and the effect produced was as of an insane person. As she explained to us we burst into shouts of laughter and for a long time afterwards we chaffed her unmercifully upon the “well open eyes.”

Louisa always lamented she was not born a boy. With the exception of rope skipping, at which she excelled all of us in power of endurance, she preferred boys games to those of her sex. But nothing gave her more pleasure than plays arid tableaux. She would conceive
an idea and write a little drama about it, cast all of us in well-chosen parts and direct, with her sister Anna, a fairly creditable children’s performance …

… If I were asked to designate two words best describing Louisa I should say wit and tenderness. Her witticisms were sparkling as a brook and as continuous as its flow. (Ibid, pages 35-38, 41)

Next time, meet Bronson and participate on one of his famed “conversations.”

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

October 6, 2012 by susanwbailey

Work: Marriage revisited – could there have been another reason why Louisa never married?

For someone who abhorred the idea of marriage for herself, Louisa May Alcott again and again paints a multi-layered, satisfying and mature picture of the institution.

Raising an interesting question

I wrote about this before, describing the first year of marriage between Meg and John Brooke in Little Women. I see it now in Work: A Story of Experience, in chapter 8, “A Cure for Despair.”

And after reading it, I had to wonder: was there more to Louisa’s refusal to marry than just wishing to remain an independent spinster? I suspect the reason was more complex.

Christie finds comfort in a friend

In chapter 8, Christie, saved from her despair by the kindly Cynthy Wilkins, draws much consolation from Cynthy’s life. Beneath Cynthy’s rough exterior, the “fuzzy, red hair, the paucity of teeth, the faded gown” lay a deep sense of joy, peace and satisfaction with life.

Finding true religion

As recalled in a previous post, Christie sought initial consolation in religion but could find none. In Cynthy Wilkins, she finds it: “This woman has got the sort of religion I want, if it makes her what she is. Some day I’ll get her to tell me where she found it.”

We do find out in chapter 9 but that will be discussed in the next post.

Why so devoted?

For now, Christie finds the life example she is looking for in Cynthy Wilkins. She is comforted by the woman’s stories but admitted to being puzzled by Cynthy’s devotion to her husband Elisha despite the fact that there truly was nothing extraordinary about him.

Once she heard Cynthy’s story, her view changed.

A marriage in trouble …

Cynthy told a lengthy story of her marriage, how at first she succumbed to the poor advice of a troublemaking neighbor and indulged in a life of frivolity and fashion. Her husband did all he could to please her but her self-centered ways and excessive spending took its toll.

Pride gets in the way

Despite doing what she pleased, Cynthy described herself as “dreadful fractious;” the home front was disorderly and discordant, the children ran wild, and Elisha could find no peace. They ended up having a terrible fight where he slapped her. He was remorseful but it was to no avail. Cynthy in a huff left home to live with the meddling neighbor and in a prideful snit, waited for Elisha to come and fetch her.

Making amends

He did not and she began to regret leaving him. A sudden flash flood from a heavy rainstorm and the possibility that he had been swept away sharpened that regret. Fortunately he was alright and they reunited and reconciled. They both mended their ways and she came to appreciate a simpler life with him and her children. She also recognized that her neighbor was no friend and kept a wide berth of her.

What makes a successful marriage?

Louisa painted the picture of a true marriage in all its complexities, its ebbs and flows. Cynthy and Elisha were not an attractive couple; each had their faults. Their strength however was their devotion and commitment to each another. Their relationship relied on something deeper than creature comforts and was strong enough to weather storms of pride, meddling neighbors and anger.

No doubt Louisa witnessed all of this in her parents’ marriage.

Marriage closer to home

Bronson and Abba had a complex relationship and Abba certainly suffered at the hands of Bronson’s narcissism and lack of propensity to provide for his family. She was angry, depressed, frustrated and frightened, and she poured all of her distress into the daughter who understood her so well.

A trap, or something workable?

It’s no wonder Louisa saw marriage as a trap. This story from Work, however (and her description of Meg and John Brooke’s marriage in Little Women) demonstrates that she did see marriage as workable and even desirable.

What was Louisa afraid of?

Louisa was ambitious, wishing make her mark in the world as a writer. She took on the yoke of breadwinner for her family, finding it both satisfying and a burden. Louisa was bold and at times appeared fearless. Yet her work made a great excuse for avoiding the thing in her life that truly terrified her: intimacy.

Friendships without strings

Think about it. How many intimate relationships did Louisa have beyond her immediate family? Consider the relationships she had with men: they were either old enough to be her father or young enough to be a son. These relationships were safe; they required no real commitment on her part.

Hard to manage

Louisa described Cynthy as hard to manage in her younger days; she was so difficult that her husband would not come and fetch her when she up and left him.

Did Louisa see herself that way?

Harsh assessment

Louisa May Alcott at around age 25 (Wikipedia)

She often described herself as “topsey-turvey.” In a letter to her father she writes, “I was a crass crying baby, bawling at the disagreeable old world…. I scrambled up into childhood,…fell with a crash into girlhood & continued falling over fences, out of trees, uphill & down stairs tumbling from one year to another till strengthened by such violent exercise, the topsey turvey girl shot up into a topsey turvey woman …” (pages 148-149 ebook, Louisa May Alcott The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen)

Moods, moods …

She often wrote in her girlhood diaries of her bad temper and the sorrow she felt as a result. Her moods put her on a constant and violent roller coaster ride. The vortex that she entered in order to write erected a barrier around her such that no one could enter, and when she’d emerge, she would be cranky, bereft and irritable.

Lack of acceptance

Her life would have been easier if those at home and society at large could have accepted Louisa for the way she was; there’s no doubt she had a generous dose of the famed artist temperament. Louisa would indeed have required a man of great patience and understanding if she wished to marry.

Avoiding the issue

So it makes me wonder if her relentless pursuit of writing plus the need to support her family were convenient excuses to avoid the deeper issue of facing and accepting herself as the woman she truly was.

My instinct tells me there was more to her remaining a spinster than her desire to remain independent.

What do you think?

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August 27, 2012 by susanwbailey

Talking about Louisa on the radio!

Last week I was invited to be interviewed by the Extreme Writers Now forum on Blogtalk radio. The interview took place on Sunday night and we had a free-for-all discussing Louisa’s works and legacy. It was great fun and I was honored to be a part of it.

You can listen to the interview here (click on the picture):

We talked about Little Women, Moods, A. M. Barnard, men, women and
An Old-Fashioned Girl, and Louisa’s poignant writings about dying in Hospital Sketches.

I love spreading the word about Louisa’s wonderful life, work and legacy! My thanks to Karen Weil who wrote the wonderful post on Louisa’s poetry; she made the connection.

Click to Tweet & Share: Got to talk about LMA on the radio! Listen to interview on Blog Talk Radio (Extreme Writing Now) http://wp.me/p125Rp-1ar @Drifter0658

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

August 19, 2012 by susanwbailey

Questions, questions … (part one)

Before I begin, thank you for your part in the extraordinarily successful launch of my new blog, Be As One: A Single Flow … The stats were encouraging and that’s a massive understatement! Thank you.

Involvement in my new blog dampened my passion for Louisa but only temporarily. It only takes reading a page or two in a biography to fuel the fire back up again.

A question

I am so enjoying reading Madeleine Stern’s Louisa May Alcott: A Biography slowly, just a few pages at a time because of the amount of information within. Reading between the lines, I always come up with questions. After reading only six pages yesterday (pages 164-170), I came up with a couple that I hope you can answer.

from http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept10/19thCenturyWomen.html

Women authors and how they approached writing

Here’s the first question: Did other famous women authors such as Jane Austen and Edith Wharton approach writing the way Louisa did, as a business?

From potboilers to children’s stories

Stern suggests the thought process Louisa went through before accepting the job as editor of a children’s magazine, Merry’s Museum. She had little or no experience writing literature for children (with the exception of Flower Fables and The Rose Family). How could “A. M. Barnard,” the potboiler author edit a magazine for children?

The build-up

The owner of Merry’s Museum in rolling out the new and improved version of the magazine touted his new editor as “the brilliant author of Hospital Sketches, who had hardly an equal and who had no superior as a writer for youth in the country.”

He had high expectations and Louisa would live up to them.

What was Louisa thinking?

Stern writes,

Perhaps the editorial work would extend her skill in writing and selecting material. It would at least give her a public that, with the exception of Flower Fables, her stories had never known. Children might prove fruitful critics, and possibly she might be able to combine her editorial responsibilities with writing for Mr. Niles [of Robert Brothers – she had already received his request to write a book for girls]. Five hundred dollars a year would be welcome at the Orchard House. Besides, Louisa would have the opportunity of living in Boston to be nearer Mr. Fuller’s office on Washington Street [he is the owner of Merry’s Museum]. Washington Street had marked many a milestone in her varied literary career as “A. M. Barnard” and L. M. Alcott. Perhaps another milestone would be reached. (pg. 164, Louisa May Alcott A Biography)

Learning her trade

Her work on Merry’s Museum showed Louisa that she could learn to write for children and mastered the formula. It gave her the confidence to embark on Little Women.

All business

Stern presents Louisa as a hard-headed business woman with mercenary designs. Many have lamented how she did not want to write Little Women but she did, for the money. And that’s not all bad.

Great instincts

Louisa had an instinct for business even though she had no experience in the business world, nor did she actually known many in that world. Yet she made very smart decisions with regards to writing, trying any genre she could, hoping she would find the one she’d eventually master.

Mastery

Little Women proved that she could; she became The Children’s Friend.

I find it quite interesting that she seemed to know all the right decisions to make in order to make her “business” of writing successful.

And that’s why I posed the question of whether or not other successful women authors of that time and before, had approached writing in this way.

I admit that I am not well-read beyond Louisa May Alcott so I’d love to know, from you, about these other women and how they made a go of their writing.

In the next post, I’m going to pose the second question question regarding younger sister May, prompted by a single line in Madeleine Stern’s book.

Click to Tweet & Share: Louisa May Alcott’s radical approach as a 19th century woman writer: it’s all business! http://wp.me/p125Rp-18S

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

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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Examining a subplot

Mystic insight

Insight leading to consolation

Hearing David’s “voice”

A series of personal signs

The crux and the heart of Work

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The spirit of Fruitlands

Setting the stage

Hunger for knowledge

Passing down gifts and dreams

Restricted life

Basic rights for women

Book signings

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This is a book that is long overdue.

Abba as muse

New sources, neglected sources

The better writer?

Gifts that did not go to waste

Understanding through family background

Story connections

Advocates for women

Marital relations

My verdict?

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Raising an interesting question

Christie finds comfort in a friend

Finding true religion

Why so devoted?

A marriage in trouble …

Pride gets in the way

Making amends

What makes a successful marriage?

Marriage closer to home

A trap, or something workable?

What was Louisa afraid of?

Friendships without strings

Hard to manage

Harsh assessment

Moods, moods …

Lack of acceptance

Avoiding the issue

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A question

Women authors and how they approached writing

From potboilers to children’s stories

The build-up

What was Louisa thinking?