What the Bell Saw and Said

by Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott's What the Bell Saw and Said is about six bell spirits gathering on Christmas Eve to assess the world's state of affairs. Some say it might have served as Alcott's State of the Union Address.

Genres: Short Stories, Christmas

10 pages, ebook

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

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐

[Katja Labonté · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars & 2/10 hearts. I would have liked this story… but I just couldn’t really. As an allegory, it had potential. This is a conversation between the “spirits” of the bells of several churches scattered throughout the city. They had a lot of good stuff to say, and again, as an allegory, I didn’t mind the spirit part too much. But one of them did say some stuff I disagree with theologically, so I just couldn’t recommend this.

[Jude Brigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me a bit of 'The Christmas Carol' as it has similar sentiments. The spirits of three bells look down on the town and have a conversation.

[Barbara Mahoney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar in theme to A Christmas Carol. Six spirits look down on a town and share their observations.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the concept of this book and I enjoyed the story. The spirit of six bells come together to discuss society. It’s pretty deep and philosophical for a small Christmas story.

[Mikyla Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely short story about what six Catholic Church bells saw and said. There are many good quotes throughout the book, as Louisa May Alcott always has such a way with words.