Louisa May Alcott: Book Review and Giveaway!

'Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women'
By: Harriet Reisen


Format: Paperback
Published: Picador; Oct. 2010
Pages: 464


Synopsis: Harriet Reisen's Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women does valiantly portray the beloved author as a stalwart woman whose life, as Reisen succinctly puts it, was no children's book. The daughter of impecunious transcendentalist Bronson Alcott and long-suffering Abigail May, as a girl Louisa Alcott watched her father preach esoteric uplift while practicing the penury that impoverished the family. Bronson's redeeming trait, Reisen speculates, may have been temporary insanity. The sadder case was Alcott's mother—the model for Marmee in Little Women—an intelligent woman harnessed to a man in search of the ineffable and, on occasion, young female acolytes. Louisa appointed herself the Golden Goose of these needy nurturers. Churning out what Reisen calls the chick-lit of its day to provide her mother and sisters the material comforts she never had, Alcott also used her imagination, according to Reisen, to escape the confines of ordinary life, although for Bronson Alcott's daughter, ordinary life was not all that ordinary; Reisen calculates that the family moved at least 30 times by Alcott's 20s. The ordeals of childhood were transmuted into rich literary endowments, Reisen explains. Alcott also wrote to earn parental approval; no longer was she a tomboy with a temper, though a careful reader can detect the anger beneath the surface of her most placid stories. 


My Take: When I was contacted about doing a giveaway to coincide with the release of this book being in paperback I was excited because I loved 'Little Women' as a child. What little girl, didn't right? I think I've also seen every movie interpretation of the book as well and loved them. This book represents every girl. It stands the test of time. While I don't really lean towards the biography genre I was intrigued to learn more about Louisa May Alcott so I thought I would give this one a try.


If you love biographies, I think you will love this one. For me though, it reminded me why biographies can be hard. However, it was incredibly well written and very thoroughly researched. I was reminded of why this part of history was so fascinating. As a young country the US was trying to figure out what philosophy it wanted to idealize. Louisa's father Bronson was an idealist and tried to tag his poor family onto each new idea that came along. They came in touch with many of the philosophers of their day, including such famous men as Emerson. Yet hitching Bronson's star to them was never enough to get his family ahead. Louisa moved so much as a child she became incredibly resilient. Her poor mother though, my God, she was just trying to keep her four children well fed and clothed and she loved her husband so much.


As an adult, Louisa felt a need to keep her family clothed and protected. She never married yet she churned her famous novels out one after the other. She was a famous woman. What society knew of her and who she was in reality were very different. I liked and respected the dichotomy. I didn't realize 'celebrities' were that savvy back then. Although I do feel she was probably lonely and wanted less responsibility for her family so she could have had one of her own instead.


The PBS series American Masters did a miniseries based on this book as well by the same name. I wish I could have seen it but I can't find a listing for it now. However, I will be keeping my eyes out for it. Has anyone seen it? 


Now for the fun stuff! I have a brand new copy of the paperback to giveaway courtesy of Picador for one lucky reader. I will ship to anywhere in the United States. All you have to do is fill out this form by midnight Tuesday November 23rd. Good luck!


(Thank you to Picador for sending me a copy of the book)