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.
I found this article today which includes a picture of the hospital where Louisa served during the Civil War, plus a photo of the first edition of Hospital Sketches. The diary which the author refers to can be downloaded for free on Google Books. The author is Kevin Konrad, a graduate from the Richard Stockton …
Continue reading "See the hospital where Louisa May Alcott served during the Civil War"
I finally finished reading Moods a few weeks ago but just couldn't comment on it. After reading both the 1864 and 1882 versions, I concluded that the book left me flat. The characters felt rather two-dimensional. Both versions ended differently and each ending seemed convoluted. It left me feeling the way I did after reading …
In chapter 3 of An Old-Fashioned Girl, it's obvious that the newness of living the privileged city life has grown old for Polly: Polly soon found that she was in a new world, a world where the manners and customs were so different from the simple ways at home, that she felt like a stranger …
Continue reading "Polly finds the palace not so beautiful after all"
I don't care what anyone says: I believe that Henry David Thoreau was a romantic. True, he certainly preferred his solitude over the company of others (although he and his brother at one time loved a woman named Ellen, enough to want to marry her, and it's rumored that Thoreau loved Lidian Emerson), but I …
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 …
Continue reading "Take a tour of the final resting place of the Alcotts"
Here's a podcast where you can listen to Susan Cheever talk about her latest book, Louisa May Alcott A Personal Biography, plus another podcast on her fascinating study on the Concord authors. American Bloomsbury. Read about and listen to the podcasts here. What did I think about her books? Read my review of Louisa May …
Here's a great essay by Klara Stephanie Szlezák where she concludes that staging is critical to the success of an historical homestead. Kudos to Orchard House for the brilliance of its staging which so beautifully captures not just the era Louisa May Alcott lived in, but her home, her family and her classic, Little Women. …
Continue reading "What makes Orchard House such a compelling historical site?"
I've created a separate twitter account (@LMAismypassion) just for this blog and you can see the posts on this site (just scroll down a bit). When I don't have time to to write a full post, I'll tweet instead. I've had to take time to prepare a talk and have had to devote all my …
Here's a brand new start-up company founded by two enterprising women who offer in-depth tours of the literary treasures of Concord, MA. Gatepost Tours began last February and is taking off like a rocket. Friends Joan Spinazola and Alida Bailey are the co-owners. Sounds like a great way to spend a summer vacation! Check out …
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Kelly O'Connor McNees, author of The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott (now available in paperback), wrote an article recently about Fanny Kemble, a 19th century actress whom Louisa May Alcott greatly admired. There's a wonderful scene in Lost Summer where Louisa gets to perform in front of Kemble and I could just feel the …
Continue reading "Louisa the actress: meet her idol, Fanny Kemble"
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 