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 am glad that I somehow got the idea from another blog that Mac and Rose did not get together. It pained me to see how Mac wooed her and she would not give in. When he shared his Thoreau essays with her and found them well received, it pained me again. So you can …
Are you taking part in the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge, sponsored by this blog and In the Bookcase? It's not too late to jump in! After reading this post, head on over to In the Bookcase and read all about it. My choice is Rose in Bloom and here is my third post on it: * …
Are you taking part in the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge, sponsored by this blog and In the Bookcase? It's not too late to jump in! After reading this post, head on over to In the Bookcase and read all about it. My choice is Rose in Bloom and here is my second post on it: …
Are you taking part in the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge, sponsored by this blog and In the Bookcase? It's not too late to jump in! After reading this post, head on over to In the Bookcase and read all about it. My choice is Rose in Bloom and here is my first post on it: …
What did Jo March mean when she said she wanted to create something "spendid?" Perhaps gaining recognition for her writing. Maybe even being hailed as a great writer. Writing a book of artistic merit and universality that would stand the test of time. Yet we find in Little Women that Jo's goals would evolve from that solitary …
The final chapter of Little Men, “Thanksgiving,” states the true nature of Plumfield in plain language. But the book, more a series of short stories under a common theme rather than a novel, already lays out the vision through the stories. Still, it is quite satisfying to hear Jo lay out her vision of a …
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 May I think. 🙂
I love birds and I love cats. So it makes sense that owls, with their cat-like eyes, should capture my heart. I had the thrill of seeing these beautiful creatures up close and personal at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA in a presentation by Marcia and Mark Wilson of Eyes on Owls.
Passion for owls
The Wilsons are unique in their ability to care for owls and to educate the public about them. Marcia comes by her interest honestly with a mother who worked with owls throughout her life and kept a Great Horned Owl in the family home. Mark is a professional photographer with credits including the covers of National Geographic plus twenty years of service to the Boston Globe.
Lifelong commitment
Both are passionate about birds to the point of housing some eighteen owls on their property. Some of these birds live over fifty years so…
One of Abigail Alcott’s best friends was author and abolitionist Lydia Maria Child. A successful children’s author in the mid 1800s, Child is best known for a poem about Thanksgiving, part of which is set to music: Here is an image from her three volume book called Flowers for Children, of the first few stanzas: …
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 …
Results of True/False Quiz I see some of you tried the True/False quiz of what was real and what was made up in Little Women. No one got 100% but you were very close! Here are the answers: Hannah the servant FALSE - The Alcotts could not afford any servants in those days The Christmas …