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.
In part two of my behind-the-scenes look at "The March Family Letters," we meet the March Sisters through a series of questions I posed to them: Meg What is your line of work? As well as working towards a bachelor’s in engineering, I supplement my income by tutoring lower years. Would you consider yourself to …
Continue reading "Meet today’s version of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy from “The March Family Letters”"
I've been so enjoying The March Family Letters and I hope you have been too. Naturally, I was curious to learn more about how it came about. I recently had the pleasure of chatting via email with the series producer and showrunner Sarah Shelson; in part one of the interview she shares how the series …
Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House now has a blog with many informative and interesting posts related to the Alcott homestead. Click here to read more.
I am pleased to announce The Annotated Little Women, edited by John Matteson, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Eden's Outcasts and The Lives of Margaret Fuller. This volume will contain over 200 illustrations. It is being published by W. W, Norton and Company, the same group which published the popular Norton edition of Little Women. You can …
Continue reading "Available for pre-order: The Annotated Little Women edited by John Matteson"
In the early twentieth century the world was changing at a breathtaking rate. As a country we moved onto the global stage with the Great War. Dazzling technological innovations created time- and work-saving devices along with new entertainment venues. Medical breakthroughs promised longer and healthier lives. Now that day-to-day survival was no longer the all-consuming …
Continuing our discussion ... Looking at fiction Little Women was a subversive work in many ways, putting new ideas into the heads of children while managing not to upset their parents. One such idea was its endorsement of reading fiction. According to Beverly Lyon Clark, a leading authority on children's literature, children were not encouraged …
Time for a deep dive! Let's examine the introduction and Chapter One of The Afterlife of Little Women by Beverly Lyon Clark. First a disclaimer. This and subsequent posts on The Afterlife of Little Women is a summary of the notes I scribbled on the pages of Beverly Lyon Clark's book; I am giving you …
Continue reading "Nuggets from The Afterlife of Little Women: “Everybody’s Aunt 1868-1900”"
In 1868, a writer desperate to pull her family out of a lifetime of poverty sits down at the tiny half-moon desk in her bedroom to begin work on the book she has dreaded writing. Assigned by her publisher to write a "girl's" book, Louisa May Alcott draws upon the lives of the only girls …
Some of the best books written about Louisa May Alcott are those geared for children. One of my favorites is Little Women Next Door by Sheila Solomon Klass. In a gentle yet poignant story Klass shows the Alcotts during their time Fruitlands through the eyes of a child from a typical family of the 1840s. …
It's back to work for Jo and Meg after the Christmas holidays. I can hear the shriek of "Josepehineeeeeeee!" now: Amy's solution may not be the one Jo desires, hee hee hee! Are you passionate about Louisa May Alcott too? Subscribe to the email list and never miss a post! Facebook Louisa May Alcott is …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 