I realize it's been nearly a month since I posted and I wanted to let you know why. I am hip deep in reading. And it started with a field trip to Fruitlands in Harvard, MA. And it will end there too. After visiting Fruitlands, I wanted to read more about it. I ended up …
For Moms and their ‘Little Women’
In honor of Mother's Day, I am delighted to present this guest post by Barbara Solomon Josselsohn, reprinted with permission from NYMetroParents. A two-day trip to Concord, Massachusetts and the home of Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, is a great way to commemorate Mother’s Day—or any other time set aside just for the …
Louisa’s ode to her cat could be an ode to mine
I was flipping through Harriet Reisen's fine book, Louisa May Alcott The Woman Behind Little Women and found this poem by Louisa (on page 112) that she published in her family's weekly newspaper, The Olive Leaf (the real-life version of The Pickwick Papers in Little Women). It so totally described how I feel about my …
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Talking with Jeannine Atkins, author of “Becoming Little Women”
As promised, here is the follow-up interview with Jeannine Atkins, the author of Becoming Little Women. Susan, Thank you so much for the opportunity to reflect back on writing Becoming Little Women and the fascinating people who inspired my novel! And, always, for spreading your passion for Louisa May Alcott. Someone who is certainly worthy …
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Book Review: “Becoming Little Women”
An experiment in a utopian community that only lasted seven months should have easily been forgotten in history, even if it included historically important people. Yet the fascination with Fruitlands continues as evidenced by Richard Francis' book, Fruitlands: The Alcott Family and Their Search for Utopia which came out this year. There is no doubt …
The core of Louisa May Alcott’s feminism explains her timelessness
After writing yesterday's post on Polly's modern sensibilities, I thought about what Louisa May Alcott's core belief was which motivated her feminism, and why she was so effective in imparting it. Autonomy My conclusion? Louisa's feminism was based on autonomy - the right of every woman to be autonomous, the freedom for each woman to …
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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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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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Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 