Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated by The Message: “Susan Bailey's new book is part of a series called Literary Portals to Prayer, which is meant to encourage a kind of literary lectio divina, a form of contemplative reading that is a pathway to prayer. An intriguing idea for a book, no? And there’s no better person to write it than Susan Bailey.” Lori Erickson, The Holy Rover on Patheos
“I never fully realized how much spiritual content is integrated into her body of work. Ms. Bailey extracts beautiful and uplifting passages and pairs them with Biblical ones that make similar points. It includes some of Alcott’s less well known works which makes me want to read those that I have missed.” Diane Brandi
Susan Bailey has compiled a remarkable edition of side by side texts, demonstrating a deep understanding of the life, world, and spirituality of Alcott. The matches [with the Bible} are spot on and insightful. Eileen Charbonneau. award-winning author
River of Grace: Susan Bailey’s powerful and beautifully-written book is much more than an insightful spiritual memoir. River of Grace is also a brilliant reflection on the connections between creativity and grace. A book one to cherish. Amy Belding Brown, author of Mr. Emerson’s Wife and Flight of the Sparrow
Susan Bailey is an accomplished researcher of all things pertaining to Louisa May Alcott. I found joy in the way that [she] shares about her favorite authoress. Miss Alcott's books wedged themselves into Susan's soul and allowed her to identify parallels and discover herself again. This is not a story of how to get over grief fast -- but how to deal with it and give your afflictions to the Almighty. Tarissa, In the Bookcase blog
"A very strange and solemn feeling came over me as I stood there, with no sound but the rustle of the pines, no one near me, and the sun so glorious, as for me alone. It seemed as if I felt God as I never did before, and I prayed in my heart that I might keep that happy sense of nearness all my life."
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THIS LOOKS AMAZING. (Also, your blog looks great!) 😀
I know, right? And thank you from the queen of blog redesigns 🙂 It was nerve-wracking when I actually had to do it!
Ha! 😀
Wow! I’ll look forward to seeing this and appreciate you posting and the links.
It does look good!
Wow. A lot of liberties taken here….:(
Besides setting it in the present day, what other changes do you see?
The story is entirely different, which you can see from this trailer. One major issue is, Do you think Jo needed a man (or anyone really) to tell her how good she was? And from the looks of it, telling her over and over again? And from this trailer it looks like the film is centered around Jo.
I know this is not the whole film, but these days trailers give away everything. I will reserve final judgement, but I am not impressed.
I agree, it did look “Jo-heavy.” I think Jo did need to hear that her work was good. In the real story men held the power with regards to getting her work published so their opinions mattered. That seems to be the case here too. But remember that Jo did care what Professor Bhaer thought, enough to burn her pot boiler manuscripts in response to his critique.
Movies appeal to the mainstream and the mainstream cares most about Jo while those of us who dive deep are interested in other parts of the story too.
Just my two cents. 🙂
I value your two cents and you’re right about Bhaer, but this Jo seems particularly insecure about her work.
Admittedly, I dislike updated adaptations, so that right there is a problem for me! And what I often find in general about adaptations of great books, especially when a work is so long and complex as Little Women, much of the book is left out and only a few things are concentrated on. I understand that; unless they want the film to be 10 hours, so much has to be left out.
Agreed! You nailed it when you said Little Women is complex. What has always bothered me is that the religious/spiritual aspect is always left out. I realize 20th and 21st century audiences do not know about Bunyan’s book but it is such a crucial part of the book, in a more overt way in part one but in a more significant way in part two. Because Pilgrim’s Progress was even mentioned makes me hope that that aspect of the book will be explored in a way that most audiences can identify with.
See, this is the problem for me in loving a book, knowing how MUCH is important and seeing it all left out in a film 🙂
You are SO right about the spirituality of Little Women. I bought Pilgrim’s Progress after I read the book, because the girls were raised with it. They recited passages and Marmee often mentioned it. They were formed with it!
Maybe this is YOUR next book? 🙂
Could. be. 😉 It’s certainly an interest of mine. I highly recommend Anne K. Phillip’s essay on the subject in the book, “Little Women and the Feminist Imagination” which is available in libraries.