Begun in 2010, this blog offers analysis and reflection by Susan Bailey on the life, works and legacy of Louisa May Alcott and her family. Susan is an active member and supporter of the Louisa May Alcott Society, the Fruitlands Museum and Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House.
By Kristi Lynn Martin, PHD Book Review of: Beth is Dead by Kate BurnetPublisher: Sarah Barely Book (an imprint of Simon & Schuster)Expected Publication Date: January 2026 Beth Is Dead is a stunning tribute to Little Women and a remarkable debut novel. This YA thriller is a deliciously delightful page turner; clever and suspenseful. After …
Roberto Martinez is launching a business that reimagines classic books in exciting and colorful ways. He chose Little Women because of its heritage. It was only after he read it for the first time that he understood the magic of Louisa May Alcott's bestseller, and the secret of its longevity. Roberto Martinez is an …
Progressive educator and transcendental philosopher Bronson Alcott realized his dream for adult education on July 12, 1880, with the establishment of his School of Philosophy, built on the grounds of Orchard House, his longtime family home. Today, Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House continues the tradition by hosting the Summer Conversational Series each year during the …
Guest post by Gabrielle Donnelly Gabrielle Donnelly, photo by Jeannine Atkins If Little Women is the great American nineteenth-century novel for girls, then Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is unquestionably its oh-so-proper English counterpart. But the March sisters couldn't be more different from Austen's Bennet sisters if they tried; and Gabrielle Donnelly, author of the …
Guest post by Lorraine Tosiello Louisa May Alcott had been dead for nearly a century before her reputation changed. It was 1975 when Madeleine Stern released a collection of Alcott’s sensational thrillers (1). With the discovery of titillating stories of revenge, psychological manipulation, and women scorned and vindicated, it was clear that Louisa May Alcott …
Editor's note: Earlier this year, Lorraine Tosiello wrote about Louisa May Alcott’s “Dedham experience.” Alcott certainly spent time as a companion and housemaid at the Richardson home on Court Street. She mentions later in life that Sophia Foord, her former teacher and mentor, helped her through her difficult time in Dedham. In this article, Aniko …
Guest post by Lorraine Tosiello Louisa May Alcott faced a lifetime of challenges, from poverty to illness. One of her early personal challenges, one that might, in fact, have given her the resolve to prove she could be a successful author, occurred in Dedham, MA. In the winter of 1851, when Louisa was eighteen years …
Complied 2022 from her Journals and Letters by Lorraine Tosiello As a lifelong bibliophile, Louisa May Alcott’s favorite authors were Dickens, Shakespeare, and Goethe. A florid reader, Alcott peppered her Little Women with references to writers ranging from Bunyan to Scott to E.D.E.N Southworth. Though we don’t know all the books she perused at Mr. …
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Come for a reading and book signing on May 14th with Alcott scholar Liz Rosenberg, editor of "A Strange Life: Selected Essays of Louisa May Alcott" at Bank Square books in Mystic, CT.