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Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters and Journals

louisa may alcott ednah dow littlehale cheyney

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This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1889

This edition

Format
420 pages, Paperback
Published
July 14, 2003 by Kessinger Publishing
ISBN
9780766174399
ASIN
0766174395
Language
English

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About the author

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louisa may alcott

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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.

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 15 votes)
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15 reviews All reviews
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Mellany
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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My copy of this book is a hand-me-down from my Great Aunt Mary Henderson Holland Houlberg - so it is almost 100 years old. Also have Little Men and Jack and Jill from the same set.

Sanitized by the editor, Louisa's own voice fascinated me as a teenager.
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elchibi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Refreshingly unlike Little Women and Alcott's other (generally delightful though) didactic fiction.
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iluvmangas123
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Gives very interesting insight into the author of Little Women....the book she described as 'Dull'!
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SuperJohnDoe
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Mostly a reread as I've read her journals, but a while ago. There's much to admire about her.
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yosokio
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Extremely interesting. Well put-together collection of her best letters and journal entries. I could read her journal entries and letters about her trips to Europe every day and never get tired of them. I'm so glad I found this charming book. I especially liked learning so much more about the rest of the family, all were interesting and all are described in this book. The youngest sister, May, was especially interesting. The father was not as bad as I'd previously thought. Was it Lincoln who said you only dislike those you don't know well enough?
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Pancreso
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Interesting read! Louisa May Alcott is one of my favourite authors but I just wanted this book to be over after reading 50 pages of letters about her vacation in Europe. Most of the information in this book is now common knowledge for any Alcott fan and/or those who have been to Orchard House.
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teab0t
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Dramatic Biography

Miss Alcott is a true idol for every women. The book has been wonderfully arranged and the short momentary description by the author of the time makes it feels like you are in those days. A biography in a dramatic format.
If you love Little Women and is quite fond of Jo's character, it is better to know the real Jo too.
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