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.
“What fun we had this evening when Louisa May Alcott came to visit her childhood home at Fruitlands!” Facebook post from the Fruitlands Museum It was indeed great fun taking in the living history performance by actress and historian Marianne Donnelly at the Fruitlands Museum Vistor’s Center. Her bigger-than-life portrayal of Louisa May Alcott was …
Continue reading "Living history – Marianne Donnelly as Louisa May Alcott"
To paraphrase a famous line, "Christmas won't be Christmas without any stories!" Louisa's stories, that is. In honor of this magical season, here are all the posts I've done on Louisa's Christmas stories. Even though work on my research has precluded reading for pleasure for now (not to say that my work isn't immensely enjoyable), …
Continue reading "A present to yourself: Louisa May Alcott’s Christmas stories"
I've been sitting on some pretty exciting news. Along with the release of River of Grace this October, I also have another book in the works, commissioned by a different publisher. And this one is all about Louisa May Alcott! The book will be launched in January of 2016. The publisher is ACTA; this book …
Continue reading "Yet another big announcement, and you can be a part of it!"
Louisa May Alcott had numerous friends and admirers. Being writers themselves (or children of famous writers such as Julian Hawthorne, see previous post), these friends and admirers provide us with what I think are the most colorful biographical sketches of Louisa. No scholar can truly capture what a contemporary (especially a friend) can reveal through …
Louisa May Alcott hated being famous. Or so she said. Stories abounded of how she often masqueraded as a maid before answering the door at Orchard House to discourage would-be fans. She knew that readers imagined her looking like the dashing young Jo with her two tails of chestnut hair flying behind her when in …
From the pages of Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag comes an intriguing memoir of the boys in Louisa May Alcott's life, "My Boys." From one "boy" to another Louisa had always preferred the company of boys and wished she had been born one herself. She particularly favored the age when boys were "regarded as nuisances till they are …
Responding to my request, I am pleased to present a guest post by Jillian author of the A Room of One's Own blog. Jillian is exploring the classics and using her blog as a journal, sharing her reactions and insight. As a new student to the classics, I depend heavily on Jillian's blog to guide …
Continue reading "Personalizing Louisa through the reading of Little Women"
Just the other day I read a post on an excellent blog that I follow regularly by Jeff Goins - the title of the post was Your Clutter Is Killing Your Creativity (And What to Do About It). It was ironic that that post came along when it did because I had just done what …
Continue reading "New Year’s resolutions, beginning with a sacred space"
I came across an article on Scotsman.com about why we so often associate Charles Dickens with Christmas (see The father of Christmas: What the festive season owes to Charles Dickens) and it really opened my eyes. The influence of Charles Dickens Despite that fact that I have read so little of Dickens, I could still …
