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.

Refreshingly unlike Little Women and Alcott's other (generally delightful though) didactic fiction.

A great book to dip in and out of. Great insight into Louisa's writings.

Gives very interesting insight into the author of Little Women....the book she described as 'Dull'!

Mostly a reread as I've read her journals, but a while ago. There's much to admire about her.

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?

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.

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.

Compiled and edited in 1889 by Ednah Cheney, this book offers an interesting look into the life of Louisa May Alcott. Cheney intersperses the letters and journal entries with some biographical information. The Alcotts were very poor and lived off the money Louisa made from her writing; Alcott keeps track of how much money she gets for each story, even after the success of "Little Women". Unfortunately, the amount of time she spent writing (up to 14 hours a day), plus the illness she caught after nursing civil war soldiers took a toll on her and many of her letters, plus many of the journal entries mention her various illnesses and describe how she had to take morphine to help her sleep.

Fans of "Little Women" will be most interested in the segments regarding that book and may be surprised to find out that Alcott thought the book was boring. It's hard to believe she really meant that because it's clear from her letters and journal entries how very biographical "Little Women" is. In fact, Alcott's journal description of Beth's death in real life is used almost word for word in the book. Other elements in "Little Women" are fiction (there was, alas, no real life Professor Bhaer and Alcott included him against her better judgement - she would have preferred Jo remain single, as Alcott herself did) and Teddy was based on a Polish acquaintance, not a next door neighbor. However, the four sisters are based on Louisa and her sisters and the journal entries and letters make you realize how perfectly she caught them on paper.

This is an interesting book about not only a fascinating woman but also a fascinating family. The Alcotts' friends included the Emersons, the Thoreaus and the Hawthornes, all whose influences helped shape Louisa May Alcott's writings. Despite her success, her life was not an easy one and was often filled with sorrow. Yet, despite her sorrow and illnesses, Louise May Alcott's works enchanted children then and now.

لويزا ألكوت،( Louisa May Alcott) (1832 – 1888 ).
هي كاتبة أمريكية. من أشهر أعمالها ، "نساء صغيرات 1868م.كتبت الشعر ولم تكن قصائدها قوية. وبرزت في حكايا الأطفال والقصص. ماتت ولم تتزوج وهي في العقد السادس من عمرها. أخلصت لأسرتها وللكتابة.
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يقع الكتاب في ( 387 ) صفحة ويشتمل على مقدمة وعدة فصول ( النسب والسلالة ، الطفولة ، الحياة العاطفية ، التأليف ، سنة الحظ السعيد ، مشاهدات المشفى ، أوربا والمرأة الصغيرة ، تغيرات العائلة ، السنة الأخيرة ، الخلاصة ) .
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من يوميات طفولتها:
1-
[إحدى ذكرياتي الأولى، اللعب والعبث بالكتب في مكتبة أبي. أبني المنازل والجسور من القواميس والجرائد.أحدّق في الصور؛أتظاهر بالقراءة، و"أخربش" ،على الصفحات الفارغة،كلما وجدت أمامي قلم رصاص.ولاتزال مدوناتي تلك، مدوّنة على سلسلة كتب الفيلسوف (فرانسيس بيكون)، وكتب المؤرخ الروماني ( بلوتاخ). ويبدو أن ذائقتي الطفولية كانت تميل نحو الأدب الرصين ].
2-

"هناك ذكرى أُخرى، هي عيد ميلادي الرابع ،الذي أُقيم في حجرة دراسة أبي في المعبد الماسوني ، كل الأطفال كانوا هناك، لبست إكليلاً من الزهور، ووقفت على الطاولة ، أوَّزع الكعك على جميع الأطفال ، ويبدو أنني سهيت قليلاً ، و بدأت حبات الكعك تتناقص ، وقلت لنفسي " لو أنني أعطيت الأطفال آخر حبة كعك فلن يتبق معي شيء لنفسي " ! و بما أنني أميرة الحفل أمسكت بالكعكة بشدة و جذبتها نحوي ، بعد ذلك قالت أمي : " من الأفضل أن نعطي الأشياء الجميلة ونقدمها للآخرين ، بدلاً عن الاحتفاظ بها ، لذلك أنا أعرف أن ابنتي لوليَّ لن تترك صديقتها الصغيرة تذهب دون أن تحصل على حصتها من الكعك ".
وهكذا أعطيت صديقتي الكعكة المحببة إلى قلبي ، وقبلتني أُميَّ ، كان ذلك الدرس الأول الذي تعلمت فيه و تذوقت جمال العطاء و انكار الذات ، الدرس الذَّي أظهرته أُميَّ خلال حياتها النبيلة .
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ذات يوم تساءلت :"أريد أن أفعل شيئاً جديدا في حياتي"، بعد رفضها لفكرة الزواج والتوقف عن الكتابة والتدريس والخياطة، فأقترحت شقيقتها الصغرى أن تمرّض جنود الحرب الأهلية، فوافقت على الفور وتطوعت كممرضة للجنود لمدة ستة أسابيع ، وخلالها كتبت رسائل مصورة بعنوان ( صور من المشفى).
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على حد تعبير المحررة (Ednah D. Cheney):
أخلصت لويزا لأسرتها والكتابة ومساعدة الآخرين. ساعدت عائلتها الفقيرة ووالدها الفيلسوف الذي كان يقيم محاضراته بالمجان. وتقول أيضاً أنها عدلت الكثير من رسائلها وحذفت الكثير من الرسائل العاطفية. كانت تكتب القصص مقابل 15 دولار، ولم تتخل عن التطريز والخياطة. ويبدو أنها أصيبت بالمرض بعد تعرضها للحمى في فترة المشفى وعلاجها بالزئبق سبب لها مضاعفات سيئة . كان طبيبها ينصحها بعدم الكتابة الطويلة الجادة.

I found this true account of arguably one of the greatest fiction writers of all time quite inspiring. I liked the way Louisa’s mother encouraged her from a young age. It was interesting to see how the aspiring author started out making a few dollars here and there, gradually building up a reputation, which in time led to great success and wealth.

Miss Alcott strikes me as a good-natured woman who cared about others whilst reserving her right for privacy when she wanted space from the limelight. I feel that anyone who knew her was most fortunate and any readers of her works who got the chance to meet her were privileged.

I seem to be one of few men who appreciate Louisa May Alcott’s literary talents. That said, this work shows that she did have male admires of various ages during her lifetime, which is good to know.

Obviously certain stories are aimed solely at young girls, but there’s a good share of material that should appeal to both sexes of all ages, plus LMA wrote some quality thrillers. Interestingly, she was dismissive of the thrillers herself, though the ones I’ve read to date strike me as excellent.

This volume was constructed by Ednah Cheney, who did a decent though not brilliant job. On the plus side, she fills in gaps that Miss Alcott’s letters and journals omit. But, annoyingly, at times Ms Cheney relays certain information only for the reader to have the same info repeated in Miss Alcott’s own words a few paragraphs later.

But this is only a small gripe with an otherwise impressive attempt to produce something of this nature in a short space of time. It was first published just over a year after Ms Alcott’s sad demise.

Some reptitions due to selecting overlap but which gives a richly detailed view of the author in her own words as well as thoughtful conclusions on the part of cheney in compiling this work. I believe this being close to contemporary gives a relatively true slant which may be lacking in much later assessments of the life and work. Being obssessed with Alcott and her family and thier circle, I've read a good many volumes and I still feel that I learned a few new bits from this early work.