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Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. How did these cherished characters come to be? Louisa May Alcott, the author of one of the most famous "girl" books of all time, was anything but a well-mannered young lady. A tomboy as well as a ravenous reader, Louisa took comfort in fictional characters that were as passionate and willful as she was—and whose wild imaginations were a match for her own. She was often found roaming the woods near her home in Concord, Massachusetts, or exploring the natural world in the company of the great Transcendentalist thinkers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Here is a beautiful portrait of Louisa May Alcott, a woman influenced by her father, a penniless philosopher, her mother, with whom she shared a great connection, and, of course, her three sisters. Deborah Noyes unveils how Louisa's natural spirit, loving family, and unconventional circumstances inspired the timeless masterpiece that is Little Women.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 6, 2020 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593217016
- File size: 172621 KB
- Duration: 05:59:37
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 1180
- Text Difficulty: 8-10
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Reviews
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August 31, 2020
This well-researched account of Louisa May Alcott’s amply documented life is differentiated by Noyes’s emphasis on the toxicity of Bronson Alcott’s Transcendental beliefs, Abby Alcott’s frustration and resourcefulness, and their family commitment to abolitionism. Direct quotes from primary sources depict the idealism-induced instability of Alcott’s socially privileged but impoverished youth—friends with luminaries including Thoreau and Emerson, but “poor as rats” due to her father’s unwillingness to earn a living. Buffeted by her turbulent family, Alcott stepped up to provide. Ironically, Little Women, a book she reluctantly wrote and which transmuted her flawed family into the idealized Marches, finally won Alcott “the fortune and fame she had craved.” Though Noyes’s adroit biography covers key details, Alcott is overshadowed by her charismatic parents, while her fictional alter ego, Jo March, remains the benchmark for insights into the author’s heart. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12.
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