Louisa died at the age of fifty-six from a stroke, outliving her younger sisters and her mother. She never married. She did get to travel to Europe several times, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
Little Women is still one of the most beloved books in American literature. How surprised Louisa would be to learn that her sketches about her childhood still resonate with so many readers nearly 150 years later. Louisa gave Jo March, her fictional counterpart, this line, which proved to be prophetic: “I think I shall write books, and get rich and famous, that would suit me, so that is my favorite dream.”
FURTHER READING
To learn about Louisa’s life, you should read Little Women. Her posthumously published first novel, The Inheritance, is also readily available. And do yourself a favor and read her thrillers, collected in Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott and A Marble Woman: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott.
There are several excellent biographies of Louisa that I would recommend.
Susan Cheever’s biography, Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography (Simon and Schuster, 2010), is a breezy examination of Louisa’s life from the perspective of the child of a famous writer. Eve LaPlante is a member of the Alcott family and considers Louisa’s relationship with Marmee in Marmee and Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother (Free Press, 2012). John Matteson won the Pulitzer Prize for biography for Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father (W. W. Norton and Co, 1997), which focuses on Louisa’s father.
Two other biographies that I found very useful were Harriet Reisen’s Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women (Picador, 2009) and Madeleine B. Stern’s Louisa May Alcott (Northeastern, 1950).
In 2009, the PBS series American Masters screened a documentary called Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. Portions of it are available online. It’s wonderful!
If you have the opportunity, you can tour Louisa May Alcott’s home in Concord, Massachusetts. The house is called Orchard House and it is next door to Hillside. The Alcotts left Hillside to move to Boston. Several years later they returned to Concord and bought Orchard House, which is now the Louisa May Alcott museum. Many of the scenes in Little Women are set in Orchard House. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s nearby house is also a museum.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I love writing about fascinating young women, perhaps because I have two “little women” of my own. Rowan and Margaux are a constant inspiration.
Tanya Lee Stone gave me the benefit of her insights into the historical lives of interesting women. Patricia Reilly Giff shared her library and offered generous support of my interpretation of Louisa May Alcott.
My critique group is my rock, always. Sari Bodi, Christine Pakkala, and Karen Swanson—many thanks for your tough critiques.
The Chronicle team is always wonderful. Thank you to my editor, Victoria Rock, who has the knack of asking the right questions. Taylor Norman is always helpful both on the editing and technical sides. Sara Schneider designed the book and the exciting cover. Lara Starr, Stephanie Wong, and Jaime Wong are my go-to ladies for help with publicity and marketing.
The staff at the Orchard House and the Ralph Waldo Emerson house were very helpful and knowledgeable. Most are volunteers and writers like me would be lost without them.
Last but never least, to my husband, Rob. Our family may not be as idyllic as the Marches’, but over the past thirty years we’ve built a life filled with love and laughter. I write because you make it possible.
photo credit: Melanie Lust
MICHAELA MACCOLL
studied multidisciplinary history at Vassar College and Yale University, which turns out to be the perfect degree for writing historical fiction. This is her fifth novel. To learn more about Michaela and her work, please visit www.michaelamaccoll.com.
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