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.
My friend Charline Bourdin from the French Louisa May Alcott blog sent me these amazing pictures of May and Ernest Nieriker’s final home in Meudon, a suburb “but fifteen minutes from Parish by rail” as May recalls (pg. 265, May Alcott A Memoir by Caroline Ticknor). Charline lives in Meudon. May wrote many letters home …
Continue reading "See May Alcott Nieriker’s home in Meudon, France"
These are owls that the Alcott girls would have seen living at Fruitlands. The little screech owl is one May painted over Louisa's fireplace and the Barn Owl is in her painting that hung in The Salon in Paris. Now you can see them live! Note how regal the Barn Owl is ... rather like …
Continue reading "Owls, Owls, Owls! Meeting our feathered friends at the Fruitlands Museum"
Little did Louisa May Alcott know that when she wrote Little Women, her classic book based upon her own family life and their “queer” adventures, she was writing the story that was on the heart of all Americans. Universal family It was time when American yearned for its own literature, its own family. The March …
You never know what a house can tell you! No matter how many times I visit Orchard House, I always learn something new. Last Friday I had the privilege of meeting longtime email friends from Paris, France. Charline Bourdin, the author of the first French biography of Louisa May Alcott and the webmaster of a …
Monday’s session of the Summer Conversational Series at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House was lively, funny and thought-provoking. A fellowship of sisters (and some brothers) gathered to enjoy talks from Gabrielle Donnelly, Kathleen Harsy and Kyoko Amano. Gabrielle Donnelly on Louisa’s health Donnelly, the author of the popular The Little Women Letters, presented “Louisa May …
This is a wonderful post on Daniel Shealy’s book, Little Women Abroad, and especially singles out May Alcott’s experience as an artist in Europe. The blogger provides a map of places to visit and many photos of the different sites Louisa and May visited.
Little Women Abroad, edited by Daniel Shealy (University of Georgia Press, 2008), is a wonderful account of the Alcott sisters’ trip to Europe together in 1870. Most readers will be interested in the travels and insights of the most famous sister, Louisa May Alcott, but for an artist, the real thrill is to see France through her little sister Abigail May’s eyes.
Most of us know Amy, the precocious little sister in Little Women who dreamed of becoming an artist. Few of us know much about Louisa’s real little sister Abigail May Alcott Nieriker (“May”), who did indeed grow up to be an accomplished artist. Unfortunately, May’s story ends tragically. She married at the age of 38, only to die one year later after giving birth to her first child.
May Alcott began to study art in 1856 when she was just sixteen years old. She studied with Stephen…
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Sometime ago I was contacted by Charline Bourdin who blogs about Louisa May Alcott in France. She recently authored a book on Louisa's life, published by Devin Editions. Titled Louisa May Alcott Ou la véritable histoire de Josephine March, this is the first official biography of Louisa in French. Charline Bourdin was born in Rouen, …
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I got this exciting piece of news today from the Louisa May Alcott Society: New Alcott Letter at the Concond Free Public Library by Leslie Perrin Wilson, Curator, William Munroe Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library Sometimes a single letter or journal entry can open a window on the past in a way unanticipated by …
Continue reading "Just when you think there is nothing more to find … something is found!"
How did May Alcott get away with so much? In 1868, she joined her sister Louisa in Boston to teach an art class. Louisa had just secured her position as editor of Merry’s Museum. She was 35 and May, 27. Line of intrigue Madeleine Stern wrote a rather intriguing line about May that sparked the …
Continue reading "Questions, questions … (part two) – turning to May"
I recently picked up a lovely volume from the library entitled Louisa May Alcott An Intimate Anthology, put together the by New York Public Library using materials from their archives. What's inside The book contains stories and essays Louisa wrote about herself, excerpts from her journals, intimate poetry, short stories and recollections from friends. Resistance …
Continue reading "“A Memorable Evening at the Alcotts’ House” as recalled by Edward W. Emerson"
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 