Eight Cousins: health and welfare – what should women do for beauty?

Just a quickie today from Eight Cousins, chapter 5, "A Belt and a Box." First, the Belt Uncle Alec jumped right in with regards to Rose's health and welfare by suggesting that she take a run. He noticed her panting and suggested she loosen her belt so that she could breathe more deeply. It turned …

Eight Cousins: the value of fatherhood

Greetings to the Poet's Corner Virtual Book Club: Eight Cousins Eight Cousins (or The Aunt-Hill) introduces us to a new kind of heroine from Louisa May Alcott. Rose, blond and blue-eyed, comes from wealth. In past stories, it’s been the wealthy girls who have proven to be the antagonists (Sallie Moffat from Little Women, Fanny …

Louisa May Alcott Goes to War (from the Weider History Group)

Eager to support the North, the budding author volunteered for a fledgling corps of female nurses By Robert Sattelmeyer Published Online: January 30, 2012 historynet.com For generations of Americans, Louisa May Alcott has been revered as the author of Little Women (1868), the semi-autobiographical novel about four sisters living in Concord, Massachusetts, while their father …

Referrals in Louisa’s journal to Little Women

Following up on Jillian's post, I thought it would be fun to look back on journal entries that Louisa made that directly correlate with Little Women. I found these in Little Women (Norton Critical Edition) edited by Gregory Eiselein and Anne K. Phillips; the page citations come from this book. Note the comments Louisa makes …

Introducing the Poet’s Corner Virtual Book Club

Following up on a reader's suggestion (thanks to Sarah), I am introducing a new feature on Louisa May Alcott is My Passion, the Poet's Corner Virtual Book Club. How the Poet's Corner Virtual Book Club works I will announce the book I plan on reading. You can join in a group read by adding a …

Personalizing Louisa through the reading of Little Women

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 …

At a crossroads – here’s where you come in

I need your help. I'm stuck. I can't figure where next to take this blog and I could use your suggestions. Which direction should this blog go next? What road do you want this blog to take? source  “(C) by http://www.martin-liebermann.de” What are you eager to learn more about? Post your suggestions and I will consider …

Complete list of stories from the Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag series

Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag is a collection of short stories, mostly for children, that Louisa wrote in the 1880s (including stories from her grand tour of Europe with younger sister May). While none of the stories have anything to do with Little Women, the publisher obviously was banking on the title drawing in lots of buyers …

Amy’s Art

I have the pleasure today of presenting a guest post by artist Amy Hintze. I happened to find two watercolor paintings of a scene out of the lives of the Alcott family on Google and was led to her website. Amy is a painter for Music and the Spoken Word, a weekly broadcast with the …

A peak into my mother’s childhood through Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag

After my reading of "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving," I decided to dig deeper into Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag and the stories my mother cherished as a young girl. What I thought would be just light-hearted reading has become a poignant and very enjoyable journey into the past where I am coming to know my mother as a …