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.
Talk about jumping off a cliff! That's what I feel like I've done with Richard Francis' Fruitlands: The Alcott Family and Their Search for Utopia . I wanted to learn more about Transcendentalism and feel like I'm practically drowning in it. But oh is it ever interesting! Disclaimer: I am writing as a student, just …
Continue reading "Diving into Transcendentalism via Fruitlands"
I just ordered a bunch of new books and needed to rearrange my book shelves to get everything to fit. In the midst of the rearranging, I pulled out my copy of The Alcotts Biography of a Family and discovered a promotional photo of the author, Madelon Bedell, and an interview released by the publisher’s …
Just heard some awesome news from Jan Turnquist at Orchard House - the long missing papers of Madelon Bedell are now safely ensconced at Orchard House. As mentioned in yesterday's post, Bedell wrote a scholarly work entitled The Alcotts Biography of a Family; it was supposed to have been in 2 volumes but sadly, Bedell …
Continue reading "Tidbits of news, and beginning a trip to Fruitlands"
I know I said I would not finish American Bloomsbury but I really do enjoy Susan Cheever's writing style despite the problems her books pose. This is the second non-fiction book I've read by Cheever and it's frustrating that her work is so uneven. She is either utterly brilliant or totally inane. Despite several factual …
Susan Cheever has offered the latest in a flurry of books about Louisa May Alcott; hers is titled Louisa May Alcott A Personal Biography. In a little over 250 pages, she sketches out the life of the popular author of Little Women. Cheever's book is an easy read, with a writing style that is very …
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Dictionary.com had several definitions for the word, "vortex" which I thought were interesting: 1. a whirling mass of water, especially one in which a force of suction operates, as a whirlpool. 2. a whirling mass of air, especially one in the form of a visible column or spiral, as a tornado. 3. a whirling mass …
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Following up on my last post, one of Susan Cheever's footnotes referred the reader to Madeleine Stern's tour de force, Louisa May Alcott: A Biography, and the outstanding chapter on Little Women. I read Madeleine Stern's book several years ago and and it still remains one of the best books I've ever read. Now voraciously …
I really loved what Susan Cheever had to say in her chapter on Little Women in Louisa May Alcott A Personal Biography. I had found myself wondering why Little Women was the standout book from this prolific author, seeing that it was written under such duress, and I think Cheever really hit on it. Here's …
Harriet Reisen sent me a section from her book, Louisa May Alcott The Woman Behind Little Women that nicely summarizes Drs. Hirschhorn and Greaves' article (see post): Chapter 17: “The Cream of Things,” (page 271 in hardback) “Louisa continued to believe Dr. Kane’s 1870 diagnosis, that mercury poisoning from calomel lay at the root of …
Continue reading "Follow-up to “What was ailing Louisa May Alcott?”"
As I continue to slowly go through Susan Cheever's Louisa May Alcott A Personal Biography and read yet more background, I came upon a story of Louisa's that related to her incident at the Mill Dam where she nearly threw herself into the water in despair, to end her life. That story, "Love and Self-Love" …
Continue reading "“Love and Self-Love,” another early success story for Louisa May Alcott"
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 