Louisa May Alcott is My Passion
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.
We had a wonderful turnout last night for my presentation, '"Housework ain't no joke ...' Victorian Huswifery with the Alcotts." Hosted at the beautiful Community Barn in my hometown of Grafton, MA by the HistoricalĀ Society and the Grafton Public Library, 50-60 people turned out for my talk outlining the domestic life through the lens …
Continue reading "Victorian huswifery with the Alcotts: Fun with hometown friends"
I am pleased to present a guest post by Julia Gordon-Bramer, a scholar of Sylvia Plath. This post is an excerpt from her upcoming book titled The Magician's Girl: the Mysticism of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Bramer writes, "It is my goal to teach the world more about Plath's transcendentalism, where it comes from, …
In anticipation of my presentation of "Victorian Huswifery with the Alcotts," I thought I would share with you portions of my talk. The essence of the talk outlines the life of the family covering more than eighty years of the nineteenth century. Their wide variety of living arrangements as they struggled through poverty to eventual …
Continue reading "Victorian Huswifery with the Alcotts: Louisa May Alcott’s domestic service"
This is such a beautiful exhibit and how I wish it would come to the States! From YouTube, here is the official announcement: From Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House: Published on Jan 28, 2018 In honor of the 150th publication anniversary of Louisa May Alcott's novel, Little Women, Orchard House (Concord, MA USA) is being …
Continue reading "Beautiful quilt festival in Tokyo honors the 150th anniversary of Little Women"
Amazing finds today at the local used bookstore (or rather, old book warehouse), The Book Bear in charming W. Brookfield, MA. First, two volumes of St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls: The volume for 1875 (with a serialization of Eight Cousins) and the volume for 1878 (with a serialization of Under the Lilacs): And …
Continue reading "Finding serializations of popular Alcott books in St. Nicholas magazines"
I am currently preparing for a presentation I will be giving about Victorian domestic life as seen through the living experiences of the Alcotts. For me the most fascinating period of that part of their history are the Boston years (1848-1855) where they essentially existed as nomads. Their dwellings ranged from cheap rented rooms and …
Coming up on Thursday, February 8 from 7 to 8:30 pm at the Brigham Hill Community Barn in Grafton, MA (my hometown), I will be giving a presentation on the Victorian housewife as seen through the experiences of the Alcotts: Description I will explores the back-breaking work of the typical Victorian housewife through the experiences …
Continue reading "“Housekeeping ain’t no joke …” Victorian Huswifery with the Alcotts"
2017 has been a banner year for Alcott fans (and more is promised in 2018 and 2019 as the 150th anniversary of the publication of Little Women looms). As a result it has also been quite the year for this blog! Especially within the last several months, the growth of readership has been extraordinary. I …
In a collaboration between the Louisa May Alcott Society and Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, a new Facebook discussion group has been created. It is called Louisa May Alcott: A Group for Fans, Readers, & Scholars. I hope you will all join in on the discussion! Here's a tease as to what is available in …
Here is Orchard House's announcement regarding the airing of "Little Women" on Masterpiece Theatre (taken from a December 7, 2017 Facebook post): "Now and then, in this work-a-day world, things do happen in the delightful story-book fashion, and what a comfort that is." from Little Women, "Pleasant Meadows." It's true! Thrilled to share that the …
Continue reading "Air dates for “Little Women” in America on Masterpiece Theatre announced!"
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 