We just passed the 149th anniversary of the publication of part one of Little Women. Happy Anniversary! And we have an exciting year ahead of us, particularly with the three-part Masterpiece Theater production of Little Women coming up in the Spring (with Jan Turnquist, Executive Director of Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House acting as consultant!). …
You can never tour Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House too many times
Recently I took in a tour of Orchard House (I've lost count how many times I've toured this wonderful home) and learned some fascinating new information with regards to the renovations made to the house. Merging the main house with a cottage The tour guide disclosed information from the Fox family whose ancestors had owned …
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May Alcott’s call to the creative life is our call
I had the pleasure last night of attending a presentation by Elise Hooper regarding her new book, The Other Alcott (see previous post for review). Among the many interesting aspects of her talk was the idea of women and artistry and the difficulty in claiming your vocation as an artist. May’s dilemma Elise pointed out …
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Book Review: The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper
Note: I received an advance copy of this book from the author for review purposes. Lounging on my wicker love seat with the koi pond (and its sprinkling fountain) in view, I had a most enjoyable summer read with The Other Alcott, a novel about May Alcott by Elise Hooper. May Alcott fleshed out Abigail …
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What would you like to know about the woman behind Beth March?
I need your help. I am writing my book proposal for the biography on Elizabeth Alcott and I need more input from you as a fan of Little Women. Here are a few short questions -- if you could comment below with your answers, that would really help. And thank you! What would you most …
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Rambling about “Little Women”
My commute to work is one hour or more each way so I have to do something to entertain myself. I tend to have what I call “brain dumps” while driving and when I do, I whip out my phone and turn on the Dragon app. Then I dictate what I’m thinking. A good portion …
Summer Reading Recommendation: The Courtship of Jo March
Trix Wilkins of the Much Ado about Little Women blog (an excellent blog, by the way, all about Little Women) has written a most intriguing re-imagining of Little Women with different endings for characters. In her description of the book she writes, Set in the early 1870s, this re-imagining of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women …
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Coming attractions – watch for a new novel on May Alcott coming out in September
Look what I got in the mail the other day: This is an advance copy of Elise Hooper's first book, The Other Alcott, published by Harper Collins in which she imagines May Alcott's life beginning in 1868. Elise gave a wonderful talk last summer at the Summer Conversational Series on May's life as an artist. …
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Rare inside look at Louisa May Alcott’s edits on the frontispiece illustration for part 2 of Little Women
From the Firestone Library of Princeton University comes this fascinating and brief look inside the process of putting together the Second Part of Little Women for initial publication. This article shows the original frontispiece illustrated by Hammatt Billings (showing Amy and Laurie in Europe) and Louisa's comments scribbled in the margins. Then we get to …
“Poppy’s Pranks” reveals the childhood of Louisa May Alcott
I am listening for a second time to Harriet Reisen's fine biography, Louisa May Alcott The Woman Behind Little Women. In discussing Louisa's childhood Reisen makes many references to a story Louisa wrote for her first children's series, Morning-Glories and Other Stories. Having little experience with writing children's stories, Louisa opted to learn by doing, …
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Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 