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.
Summertime is here and I've lucked into some wonderful summer reading. I just started The Little Women Letters, the fifth novel by Gabrielle Donnelly, a British writer. The story is set in modern day London and tells the story of three sisters (Emma, Lulu and Sophie) who are direct descendants of Jo March. The middle …
Continue reading "The Little Women Letters promises to be a great summer read!"
In chapter 3 of An Old-Fashioned Girl, it's obvious that the newness of living the privileged city life has grown old for Polly: Polly soon found that she was in a new world, a world where the manners and customs were so different from the simple ways at home, that she felt like a stranger …
Continue reading "Polly finds the palace not so beautiful after all"
There's a terrific article on the Concord Patch written by a licensed Concord tour guide, Harry Beyer. He takes you on a tour of the Alcott family plot at Sleepy Hollow cemetery. Here's a teaser from the article: Louisa May was an active abolitionist, helping to shelter runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. She was also an early …
Continue reading "Take a tour of the final resting place of the Alcotts"
I suppose if I'm going to be so long in reading Little Women , I might as well be long in seeing the film too! My lovely husband, keenly aware of my interest, set the DVR to tape Little Women on the Oprah Winfrey Network so I could watch it (awfully nice, thanks Rich!). I …
Continue reading "Finally saw the 1994 film of Little Women"
In response to a reader's question about line drawings in an older version of Little Women, Harriet Reisen suggested that the drawings of Frank Thayer Merrill were perhaps the ones she was thinking of . I found 3 online (2 suggested by Harriet) and each came from an interesting article so I'm posting the links …
Continue reading "Black and white line drawings in the 1880 version of Little Women"
As promised, and in honor of Louisa and Bronson's impending birthdays (November 29), I am giving away a free DVD of the acclaimed documentary, Louisa May Alcott The Woman Behind Little Women thanks to the generosity of Nancy Porter and Harriet Reisen. I've seen this documentary a few times and it is just wonderful seeing …
Continue reading "DVD Giveaway Contest – Win by writing about your favorite Little Women character"
Harriet Reisen, author of Louisa May Alcott The Woman Behind Little Women, sent me this. It's interesting and fun to see the comparisons. I'd love to hear what you think! Thanks, Harriet, for this contribution! Gentle Readers: Asked to compare Louisa May Alcott’s fictional sisters to her real four, I find that they are inextricable …
Continue reading "Comparing the March sisters with their real life counterparts"
Chapter 38 of Little Women, "On the Shelf" again showed me what a keen observer Louisa was. She never married nor bore any children yet her description of Meg and John's adjustment to parenthood was dead on. I listened to the audio book with my mouth open just about the whole time, in awe at …
Continue reading "Motherhood, Marriage, and Keen Observations"
Louisa May Alcott was an astute observer of life. Her description of Meg and John's first year of marriage in Chapter 28 of Little Women, Domestic Experiences, amazed me with its accuracy. She obviously studied her sister Anna and brother-in-law John Pratt's marriage carefully, probably without even realizing it. Her keen mind picked up on …
Continue reading "A view of marriage from a decided spinster"
The first three chapters of Little Women, Part Two (aka Good Wives) certainly didn't disappoint! I loved how the first chapter (Chapter 24, Gossip) brought me up to date on all the major characters - it was like hanging around the water cooler at work finding out what happened on my favorite TV show last …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 