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.
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 …
Continue reading "Wrapping up Little Men: Jo creates her own utopia"
From the Christmas Tales and Stories collection (Laura Ciolkowski, editor) comes a sweet, albeit typical offering from Louisa May Alcott known as "The Little Red Purse." Even though the essence of the story is very familiar (rich little girl learns how good it is to give to the poor), Louisa always manages to insert something …
Continue reading "A Louisa May Alcott Christmas: “The Little Red Purse”"
A trip to the Book Bear in West Brookfield, MA never disappoints. A warehouse of antiques, rarities and just plain used books, The Book Bear has books on every subject imaginable. It's where I found the book on Nonquitt which showed rare photos of Louisa plus her summer house (now sadly destroyed by fire). It's …
From the Barnes and Noble collection of Christmas stories by Louisa May Alcott called Christmas Tales and Stories (edited by Laura Ciolkowsk) comes a sweet tale with a lot of fodder between the lines for those of us well-acquainted with the life of Miss Alcott. "A Christmas Turkey, and How It Came" The premise is familiar: a …
Continue reading "A Louisa May Alcott Christmas: “A Christmas Turkey, and How It Came”"
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: …
I have always maintained that Madeleine B. Stern’s Louisa May Alcott: A Biography is the standard bearer. Tracing the life of Louisa the writer, Stern gives penetrating insight not only into Louisa’s life, but her very essence as a writer. As a writer myself, I have found much wisdom in these pages and have marveled …
Day Two of the Summer Conversational Series featured a fine array of speakers. Kristi Lynn Martin and Duty's Faithful Child Starting off the morning was Kristi Lynn Martin, a doctoral candidate at Boston University. Martin’s many years of experience as a tour guide at Concord’s finest historical homes (The Old Manse, “Bush” (aka the Emerson …
Before I begin, thank you for your part in the extraordinarily successful launch of my new blog, Be As One: A Single Flow … The stats were encouraging and that’s a massive understatement! Thank you. Involvement in my new blog dampened my passion for Louisa but only temporarily. It only takes reading a page or …
A trip to a warehouse bookstore in the middle of nowhere produced a great find! I had just about given up the hope of finding something interesting until this book caught my eye: Nonquitt A Summer Album, 1872-1985, edited by Anne M. Lyell. What is so significant about Nonquitt? This is where Louisa May Alcott …
I just picked up an e-book of Christmas stories by Louisa May Alcott from Barnes & Noble called Christmas Tales and Stories (have to love e-books for the convenience, especially since I wanted to start reading right away). "Bertie's Box" - setting up the story It includes an introduction by the editor, Laura Ciolkowski. She …
Continue reading "Louisa May Alcott’s Christmas Stories – “Bertie’s Box” in real life"
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 