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.
On May 31st at 11am, I will be giving a 15-minute presentation on Lizzie Alcott that I believe will be groundbreaking. To see the talk, you need to register right away for this free international symposium, "Bearing Untold Stories: A Hybrid Symposium." Registration closes tomorrow. Here is the link: 31st May: Bearing Untold Stories: A Hybrid …
Continue reading "Register for free symposium today, featuring my presentation on Lizzie Alcott"
I just received my order from the Houghton Library at Harvard for Lizzie's Hillside journal. Now you can read Lizzie's words in her own handwriting: https://aeon.hul.harvard.edu/aeonauth/aeon.dll?Action=10&Form=75&Value=818055 Presentation on Lizzie Alcott, sponsored by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Lancaster University, UK I would also like to announce that I will be presenting a …
Continue reading "Lizzie’s words, in her own handwriting – the Hillside diary, and other news"
I haven't given you an update since April of 2021 on my progress but I am pleased now to say that Chapter 2 has been edited and the first draft of Chapter 3 is complete. Chapter 3 proved quite the challenge. I covered the seven-month-long Fruitlands experiment (June, 1843 through January, 1844) and the Alcotts' …
Continue reading "Latest update on my biography of Lizzie Alcott"
When touring The Wayside, have you ever wondered how the house was laid out when the Alcotts lived there? My latest article in "Discover Concord" provides a first floor floorplan and descriptions of each room as it was used by the family. Visit https://issuu.com/discoverconcordma/docs/dcfall2021/48 to read the article. Bring it with you the next time …
I saw this article on a quilting blog and thought you might find it interesting. I wish I knew more about quilts and the significance of their design but perhaps some of you can offer help in your comments.
Here is the article:
Hands All Around #5: Star Puzzle for Elizabeth Alcott
A block for Elizabeth (Peabody) Sewall Alcott, the quiet sister. The puzzle may be: “How could anyone be quiet in that family?”
Continue reading: http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2021/05/hands-all-around-5-star-puzzle-for.html
I am pleased to announce that I have completed the first draft of chapter 2 which focuses on the Alcott family’s first home in Concord. This was a fun chapter to write as there was much to say about the sisters. There are a couple of revealing letters from Bronson to Lizzie plus reminiscences from Lizzie’s best friend and next-door neighbor at the time, Lydia Hosmer.
Now that I have finally figured out the methodology for writing this book (and that has taken years as I am teaching myself), the writing goes along much faster. And as I edit, I learn new things — how will I make this book read like a novel rather than just a regurgitating of facts? What words and methods will I use to make the reader feel Lizzie’s story? And how will…
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Today I am celebrating!
I am pleased to announce that I have finished the rough draft of Chapter One of my Lizzie book. After extensive research and nine years of stops and starts, I am finally getting this down on paper. It feels terrific!
A writer needs a strategy when putting together a book, and that can take a long time to figure that out. Once solved, the writing went so much faster. I had to figure out my methodology for writing this biography and stumbled upon the answer while reading about writing a fiction novel! It taught me how to build and use chronological order as the framework while still focusing on themes. My natural tendency is to be a thematic writer, and I am also very much into process. These two things can confuse the reader because exploring themes and processes can make the story hard to follow. I discovered this after…
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Back in 2016, I visited Walpole, NH, home to the Alcott family from 1855-1857. Accompanied by Alcott scholar Dr. Kristi Martin, we had the pleasure of meeting Ray Boas, Walpole's town historian. He gave us a lovely tour of the town, pointing out the homes where Louisa and Anna had performed with the Walpole Amateur …
Continue reading "Exciting news from Walpole, NH, home to the Alcotts in the mid 1850s"
NOTE: I feel a need to append this post as I have heard from many of you about all the inaccuracies in this article. This seamless mixing of fact, fiction and mythology between the fictional Marches and the real-life Alcotts is rather common in writing from this period. I've read several newspaper accounts from the …
Recently I read an essay called “Women, Menstruation and Nineteenth Century Medicine” by Vern Bullough and Martha Voght which discussed how misinformation regarding women and menstruation prevented them from receiving an education. The essay covered familiar territory with regards to how the world of medicine regarded women’s health in the nineteenth century. (See previous post) …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 