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.
Rebecca Lee never dreamed that doing her job would gain her a new literary friend. An audiobook narrator, improv actor, and teaching artist, Lee produced Work, A Story of Experience for audible.com. Work, one of Louisa May Alcott's lesser-known adult novels, tells the story of heroine Christie Devon's ambition and struggle to work outside the …
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For someone who abhorred the idea of marriage for herself, Louisa May Alcott again and again paints a multi-layered, satisfying and mature picture of the institution. Raising an interesting question I wrote about this before, describing the first year of marriage between Meg and John Brooke in Little Women. I see it now in Work: …
A ticking time bomb lay inside of Louisa May Alcott and she knew it. It went off with her father, her Uncle Junius, and eventually, herself. Her journals alluded to it. Her creativity was fueled by it. And chapter 5 of Work: A Story of Experience gives us a detailed look inside. Companion Having left the …
You’ve come of age and it’s time to strike out on your own. How do you feel? Excited? Fearful? Full of anticipation? Will it be a grand adventure or a dismal failure? In her mid-twenties, Louisa May Alcott was ready to strike out on her own, fueled by her obsessive desire to be a financial …
Continue reading "Work: “Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor” – what could women do?"
What was it like to be a nineteenth century woman who bucked the system? Suppose she didn’t want to marry right away but instead, preferred to seek independence and meaning through work? What if her world didn’t revolve around a man, but herself? How would she fare? Does the answer lie in Jo March? At …
Continue reading "Work: Louisa May Alcott writes about bucking the system"
I would like to begin a discussion of Work: A Story of Experience by Louisa May Alcott, the newest selection from Poet's Corner Virtual Book Club. Don't remember how the book club works? Here's the original post about it. Yes, I know, the last time we tried this with Eight Cousins, I didn't finish. I promise …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 