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.
Louisa May Alcott had remarked in her journal that memories of her November 29th birthday were not always happy ones. The gift of self-denial There’s the famous story of birthday number 3, celebrated at her father’s Temple School where, in the end, she had to deny herself her own birthday treat and give it to …
Continue reading "Happy birthday! Bronson Alcott at 216, Louisa at 183"
Little Women has been called autobiographical because Louisa May Alcott used so many episodes from her own childhood and that of her family to create the story. But where does fact end and fiction begin? Or does it even work like that? Stern says, “Fact was embedded in fiction, and a domestic novel begun in …
Cathlin Davis on Louisa’s philosophy of life Continuing with Day 4 of the series, Professor Cathlin Davis from California State University presented on “Practice Philosophy: ‘I want something to do.’” Through passages from Hospital Sketches, Work, Little Men and some of the rarer short stories (“May Flowers” from A Garland for Girls and “What Becomes …
I am delighted when Gabrielle Donnelly, author of The Little Women Letters (see previous post) offered to review this wonderful new edition of Little Women. Ed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * There are two ways to read Daniel Shealy's …
Continue reading "Book review: Little Women An Annotated Edition, edited by Daniel Shealy"
How did serving as one of the first nurses of the Civil War lead to Louisa May Alcott’s runaway best seller, Little Women? Children’s author Kathleen Krull explores this journey in a delightful picture book entitled Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War led to Little Women, published by Walker & Company, New York. Making …
I acknowledge that Work: A Story of Experience is an important feminist work (see previous post). It was groundbreaking in that respect and makes it a relevant book for today in understanding the condition of single working women in the nineteen century. Work would be an especially valuable read for women of the Millennial generation who …
Continue reading "Wrapping up Work A Story of Experience: The Spiritual Subplot"
This blog has led me places I never thought I would go! One of those places was Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, CT where I donned a hat I have not worn since a year after I graduated from college with a BS in Elementary Education: the hat of a teacher. A longtime reader of …
I had the pleasure of having my books signed by author Eve LaPlante at Fruitlands yesterday. The setting was lovely: typically cold for December with light snow falling. The spirit of Fruitlands Having just completed a series of books on Fruitlands (which I will be writing about soon), the spirit of the Fruitlanders was palpable …
Continue reading "Meet and greet with author Eve LaPlante at Fruitlands"
This is a book that is long overdue. Anyone who has read Little Women and felt the overarching presence of Marmee (and the lack of presence of Mr. March) has to know just how important Louisa's mother was to her. Marmee was based on a living, breathing woman who was far more complex (and interesting) …
Of all the memoirs written by people who knew the Alcotts well, none provided more detailed descriptions of family members than Frederick Llewellyn Hovey Willis' book, Alcott Memoirs. In a series of posts, I will share with you his impressions of each member of this illustrious family. Willis' daughter Edith who compiled the memoir described …
Continue reading "What was Louisa May Alcott really like? The memories of her “adopted” brother"
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 