Louisa May Alcott: An Intimate Anthology

by Louisa May Alcott, Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney

In this intimate anthology of letters, poems, stories, and other personal and literary writing by Louisa May Alcott, an often surprising portrait emerges of this pioneering writer. The author and her world are brought even more vividly to life with rare photographs and handwritten manuscripts and letters from The New York Public Library's extensive collections.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Poetry, Anthologies

369 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May Alcott and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, including Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A.M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.
Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still popular today among both children and adults. It has been adapted for stage plays, films, and television many times.
Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She also spent her life active in reform movements such as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, just two days after her father's death.

Reviews

[Chambodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hospital Sketches and Debbie's Debut were my favorite of the short stories. The first is a sometimes brutal tale taken from her real work as a nurse during the civil war. The second is the most similar in tone to Little Women, so of course I liked it. Some of the others were too melodramatic and for me.

There is almost an overabundance of information on her entire life. If you have any interest in her at all, this is the book for you.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved learning more about one of my favorite authors. She was even more incredible, indomitable, and kind than I ever imagined. The letters and journal entries gave valuable insight into her mind and life, and the short stories showed her values clearly.

[Janae Mast · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this book, I love Little Women and Louisa May Alcott even so much more. The beauty in her letters and short stories is tangible and I feel like I know her personally.

[Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readd several entries. Got to know Alcott better.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louisa May Alcott is universally known as the creator of Little Women. But modern readers might be surprised to find there was more to her than an authoress of a book that was made to appeal mainly to young girls. Ms. Alcott was a woman of keen unfailing insight, passionate nature, acerbic wit and loving devotion to her family. It is to be wondered that she lived and died an apparent spinster (there is some speculation, swiftly dismissed in the book, that she must have had a secret lover). But the richness of her spirit did not allow her to be bound by the typical female convention. Like a reverse Atalanta, she would tolerate a boy’s company only if she could beat him in a footrace and a girl’s if the tested party was as hoydenish as herself. The poverty of her youth is well known; the efforts she made to surmount it, not so much.

This book presents a woman of indomitable spirit and winning charm, given to jokes, spot-on imitations of her peers and possessing an amazing gift for poetry, sympathy for the oppressed and burgeoning feminism. Even if Henry James dismissed her as not being a genius, her timeless works prove that she didn’t have to be. She was herself and that more than sufficed.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good book if you are interested in LMA. It has historical info., excerpts from her journals, perceptions from her friends, and some short stories. I've always identified strongly with her (and Jo of Little Women), and I found lots of things in the book that support that feeling. I also found a bunch of ways in which she and I differ. She appears to have privately felt that she never really got to live her own life - do the things she really wanted to do - and was sad about it.

This book dovetails nicely with A Chance Meeting. Talks about the influences on her and the ones she had on others. Their family was close friends with the families of Nathaniel Hawthorn and Ralph Waldo Emerson. They were also familiar with Thoreau's Walden pond.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This combination of letters, diary entries, stories, poems, and pieces about Alcott by those who knew her will give you a much expanded view of the author of Little Woman. The most notable thing for me was how vividly her sense of humor came through. There are hints of it in Jo March, but here -- especially in a hilarious account of the ill-fated Fruitlands experiment, which had me laughing so hard on the train that my seatmates eyed me uneasily -- she gives it free rein and the results are marvelous.

I often wonder what Alcott would have written if she'd been born a hundred years later; I can't decide if it would be convoluted thrillers like Dan Brown or paranormal romance. After reading this I'd say "Both!" -- and a few other things besides, probably.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It IS an intimate collection, with selections well chosen to illustrate the most significant experiences of Alcott's life. Journal entries and correspondence. Romantic poems written for her neighbor Thoreau. Potboilers she wrote as moneymakers ("Little Women" fans will recall Jo March's "blood and thunder" stories: here, you get to read them!) A description of life on a 19th-century commune-- whose drolleries are just a little strained, belying both her loyalty to her father and the recognition of the hard life his dreams inflicted on his family.

Most moving of all-- her "hospital sketches" about her experiences as a Civil War nurse.

This is an excellent companion to any Alcott bio.

[Jacqueline West · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice little collection. Funnily, the fiction included is what I found least enjoyable; Alcott's short stories are stuffed with melodrama and morality. The memoirs, however, are wonderful, especially "Transcendental Wild Oats," as are the journal fragments, letters, and poems. A great selection of biographical sketches and essays (contributed by Charles Ives, G.K. Chesterton, and several close friends of the Alcotts) as well.

[bethany m. planton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had previously read the letters, poems, stories, and other writings by Louisa May Alcott featured in this anthology. All which are excellent. What I was excited to read was the section Remembering Louisa May Alcott: Essays, Photographs, Drawings, and a Poem. How better to learn about an author than to read about her from the people who actually knew her.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories, letters, journal entries, and memoirs about the Alcotts. I'm still trying to reconcile the author of Eight Cousins, who won't let Rose drink tea or eat white bread, with the author of the story in this collection where everyone takes hashish.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing given how much I loved most of her novels.

[Marci · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to get to know this author better and understand her life and what molded her writing style, this is a good read.

[Carmen]

So far i enjoying this. I have had this book since 2000.
What a joy to read about a women who was writing over 100 years ago before i was even born.
What an amazing story so far.

[Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting reading. Excellent L.M. Alcott background material.

[Kettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this look at Louisa May Alcott's life. Fun to read some of her less well known writings. Nothing compelling, easy to pick up and read for a bit, then put it away for a while.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for fans of Louisa May Alcott's works.