Uncategorized – Louisa May Alcott is My Passion

July 27, 2021

“Let Genius Burn” podcast explores the Alcott sisters

The Littlest Woman: The Life and Legacy of Lizzie Alcott, the Real Beth March

Jill Fuller and Jamie Burgess, creators and hosts of the “Let Genius Burn” podcast series, have been thoroughly immersed in the life and legacy of Louisa May Alcott for well over a year. The podcast debuted on July 12 and each week a new episode is released on Mondays. This week’s episode The podcasters focused on the Alcott sisters, discussing each one in depth, along with the relationship that sister shared with Louisa. Any Little Women fan knows how much Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy are derived from Anna, Louisa, Lizzie and May. Fuller and Burgess present many interesting (and lesser known) facts about the sisters along with penetrating insight into the sibling bond that made up this “Golden Band.”

Episode Two of “Let Genius Burn” focuses on the Alcott sisters.

I was most impressed with the presentation on Lizzie. Referring to her by the name to which she was…

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May 20, 2021

An Alcott rag doll and embroidery by Abba Alcott, from the Fruitlands Museum Collection

I went to Fruitlands today with my sister to visit the art museum and happened across these interesting items: Rag doll presumably owned by the Alcott Daughters, ca. 1840This simple and well-loved doll made from rags was likely owned by the Alcott sisters. The wear of the fabric implies many hours of play.Fruitlands Museum Collection, …

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April 5, 2021

“Discover Concord” features article on “Alcott’s Hidden Critics: The Secret Reviews of Little Women.”

The Spring 2021 issue of Discover Concord magazine features all the details of my current project with Lorraine Tosiello in unearthing and archiving personal references to Little Women in diaries, journals, school projects, blog posts, fan fiction, etc. Here is the link: Discover Concord Spring 2021 - see pages 56-57. We are accepting submissions now …

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March 4, 2021

Lizzie as you have never seen her before

The Littlest Woman: The Life and Legacy of Lizzie Alcott, the Real Beth March

I was stunned by this – she is just so lovely!

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October 7, 2020

Lizzie Alcott’s Hillside Diary

The Littlest Woman: The Life and Legacy of Lizzie Alcott, the Real Beth March

I am pleased to share with you the only known existing journal of Elizabeth Alcott.

Disclaimer #1: I cannot guarantee total accuracy as I am not a professional transcriber. If there is something you want to quote for a paper, please email me through the Contact page, note the page or pages you want, and I will send you photographs of these pages.

Disclaimer #2: I have annotated it with notes and insights (in red) — please keep in mind that these notes are often just my opinion about what I read (and a few might not make sense to you) — these opinions should not be taken otherwise.

Please use the citation information below if you want to quote this diary.

Enjoy this rare look at Lizzie Alcott at ages 10 and 11.

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April 14, 2020April 13, 2020

Virtual tour of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House well worth the price of admission

Have you been longing to tour Orchard house since its closing due to the Covid-19 pandemic? Are you from another part of the country or across the globe, longing to see the inside of the house where Little Women was written? You are in luck! Orchard House is now offering virtual tours led by "Louisa" …

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December 20, 2019

“Little Women” for today: Gabrielle Donnelly interviews Greta Gerwig, writer and director

Note: I am pleased to present this guest post by Gabrielle Donnelly, author of The Little Women Letters. Donnelly is an entertainment journalist and she had the chance recently to sit down with Greta Gerwig, writer and director of the latest Little Women movie. *********************************** Writer and director Greta Gerwig’s last film was the acclaimed …

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December 5, 2019December 3, 2019

Book Review: “Little Women: The Official Movie Companion”

I am pleased to present this guest post review by Niina Niskanen who has frequently left thoughtful comments on this blog. The premiere of the new Little Women feature film is approaching and recently a movie companion written by Gina McIntyre was released with beautiful photographs taken from the set by Wilson Webb. The book …

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November 21, 2019

Medical journal writes short extract on Beth March’s compassion

A prominent medical journal highlights Beth March/Lizzie Alcott and her compassionate care.

The Littlest Woman: The Life and Legacy of Lizzie Alcott, the Real Beth March

I was surprised to find this and wish it were longer. It’s a wonderful comparison between Beth/Lizzie’s courage in caring (in a hands-on fashion) for someone with a highly contagious disease and the brave Ebola workers.

From The American Journal of Medicine:

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April 11, 2019

“Let the World Know You Are Alive”: May Alcott Nieriker and Louisa May Alcott Confront Nineteenth-Century Ideas about Women’s Genius

I am pleased to share with you a wonderful essay about the professional lives of Louisa May Alcott and May Alcott Nieriker written by Lauren Hehmeyer, a professor of History and English at Texarkana College. Professor Hehmeyer presented at the May Alcott conference in Paris in June of 2018 (see previous post) and is currently …

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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.

Find out more about the blog.

Contact Susan
Subscribe to the blog.

Listen to the Podcast
Watch on YouTube
(and subscribe to the channel)

For a comprehensive list of blog posts by name, download this document:
Complete list of posts on LMA blog
(note: this is updated periodically)

Recognized for Excellence in 2018
by The Internet Scout Report

Discover Concord

Named the New Business of the Year (2020) by the Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce

See Susan’s article, ” Experiencing The Wayside as Hillside, Home of the Alcotts” on pages 48-49 in the Fall 2021 edition (click on photo)

See Susan’s article, “Alcott’s Hidden Critics: An International Sleuthing Project” (co-authored by Lorraine Tosiello) on pages 56-57 in the Spring 2021 edition (click on photo)

See Susan’s article, “Bronson Alcott’s Search for Eden: Fruitlands” on pages 64-65 in the Winter 2020 edition (click on photo)

See Susan’s article on Thoreau on page 44 of Discover Concord magazine’s Summer 2020 edition (click on photo)

See Susan’s article on page 12 of Discover Concord magazine’s Winter 2019 edition (click on photo)

Mentioned in Vanity Fair

Little Women Audio Play

Reading Little Women blog

Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated by The Message: “Susan Bailey's new book is part of a series called Literary Portals to Prayer, which is meant to encourage a kind of literary lectio divina, a form of contemplative reading that is a pathway to prayer. An intriguing idea for a book, no? And there’s no better person to write it than Susan Bailey.” Lori Erickson, The Holy Rover on Patheos

“I never fully realized how much spiritual content is integrated into her body of work. Ms. Bailey extracts beautiful and uplifting passages and pairs them with Biblical ones that make similar points. It includes some of Alcott’s less well known works which makes me want to read those that I have missed.” Diane Brandi

Susan Bailey has compiled a remarkable edition of side by side texts, demonstrating a deep understanding of the life, world, and spirituality of Alcott. The matches [with the Bible} are spot on and insightful. Eileen Charbonneau. award-winning author

River of Grace: Susan Bailey’s powerful and beautifully-written book is much more than an insightful spiritual memoir. River of Grace is also a brilliant reflection on the connections between creativity and grace. A book one to cherish. Amy Belding Brown, author of Mr. Emerson’s Wife and Flight of the Sparrow

Susan Bailey is an accomplished researcher of all things pertaining to Louisa May Alcott. I found joy in the way that [she] shares about her favorite authoress. Miss Alcott's books wedged themselves into Susan's soul and allowed her to identify parallels and discover herself again. This is not a story of how to get over grief fast -- but how to deal with it and give your afflictions to the Almighty. Tarissa, In the Bookcase blog

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