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.
Many fans of Little Women are not aware of the fact that Louisa May Alcott, a bestselling children's author, also served her country during the Civil War as a nurse. Because of her experience in taking care of her dying sister Lizzie, Alcott was accepted as a nurse, serving in Washington, DC in the Union …
Continue reading "Review of “Louisa on the Front Lines” by Samantha Seiple"
My obsession with Louisa played out in a rather odd way. Never a big reader until a few years ago, I’d find myself reading a biographical account of Louisa’s life (rather than read her own words) every few years. This began after reading Martha Saxton’s biography. After the reading (usually done during the autumn months) …
Continue reading "Louisa May Alcott as grief counselor (on the fifth anniversary of this blog)"
Note: Mr. Burby kindly gave me his presentation (handwritten notes and all) in lieu of the fact that I was unable to attend the Monday session of the Summer Conversational Series. I thank him for doing so. This is a longer post than usual as I found his presentation to be quite thought-provoking. * * * …
By the time Elisabeth Sewall Alcott was born, Bronson had moved on from chronicling the daily activities of his daughters to exploring the soul. In Eden’s Outcasts, John Matteson writes that “Elizabeth was fairer than her elder sisters and … was the model of serenity that Bronson had vainly hoped Anna and Louisa would be. …
Continue reading "Elisabeth Alcott through the eyes of her father"
Work is progressing, albeit slowly, on my book project. I am enjoying all aspects of the process from the thinking and planning while I drive (I’m one of those crazies that talks to myself all the time), to the research, to the paragraphs percolating in my head, to the final writing. I’m falling more in …
Quite a while ago I promised to write more on Marmee, the Mother of Little Womenby Sandford Meddick Salyer and as usual, I got sidetracked (have to stop going to the library! :-)). As I mentioned before in my first post, this book was a very pleasurable read chock full of information. Salyer did his …
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 …
Continue reading "Book Review: Louisa May Alcott A Personal Biography by Susan Cheever"
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) …
Before I begin, I must say that right now I am positively swooning over the reading I am doing! Little Women is (sadly) winding down but surely going out with a bang. At the same time, Gone with the Wind is ramping up! It's so cool reading two books about the Civil War era (my …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 