I am pleased to present a guest blog by the author of The Little Women Letters, Gabrielle Donnelly. Recently I reviewed this fine book and had a chance to talk with Gabrielle via email about it. I was intrigued by her biography where it stated that she had no sisters but in fact had 4 …
Marmee, the Mother of Little Women
Thanks to the advice of a reader (much appreciated, Gina!), I've started reading Marmee, the Mother of Little Women by Sandford Meddick Salyor. Certainly you cannot look at the life of Louisa May Alcott without looking at her parents. There are plenty of works on Bronson but not that much on Abba ("Marmee"). This 1949 …
Take a tour of the final resting place of the Alcotts
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 …
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The essence of Fruitlands: a return to the Garden of Eden
Note: the following post is based upon the introduction to Fruitlands: The Alcott Family and Their Search for Utopia by Richard Francis, pages 2-11). Anything that has been italicized is my own conclusion, not Francis'. I will be including thoughts that I have as it relates to my understanding of Christianity and how it relates …
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Diving into Transcendentalism via Fruitlands
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 …
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Rediscovering the late Madelon Bedell, author of The Alcotts Biography of a Family
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 …
Tidbits of news, and beginning a trip to Fruitlands
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 …
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Book Review: Louisa May Alcott A Personal Biography by Susan Cheever
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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The Field Trip of a Lifetime! (part two)
To continue with my account of the field trip of a lifetime, there were many more treasures that I found at the Concord Free Public Library: A May Alcott Nieriker Exhibition Regular readers of this blog know of my esteem for May Alcott Nieriker. I discovered (first to my dismay and then to my delight) …
The Field Trip of a Lifetime! (part one)
I have been anticipating my vacation between Christmas and New Year's for several months because of a very special field trip I planned - a visit to the Concord Free Public Library where I would come into contact with the actual letters and manuscripts of my favorite author, Louisa May Alcott. The weather was beautiful …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 