Louisa May Alcott is best known as a children's author, especially for her novel Little Women.
Early Life of Louisa May Alcott
Born on November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania, Louisa May Alcott's family was poor. She suffered poverty in her childhood along with insecurity that went with it. To make ends meet, her father, Bronson Alcott, moved places to find opportunities for the family.
When she was only two years old, her father moved the family to Boston, where he founded several schools for some years. The school unfortunately failed, and they moved again, this time to Concord, Massachusetts.
Waldo Emerson and Thoreau
Louisa May Alcott and her sisters, Elizabeth, May and Amy, were primarily taught by her father, while their mother, Abigail May, raised her children to be good Christians.
She learned a great deal from her fine literary neighbors, who included the writers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. She visited Emerson's library while she was growing up. She loved books and loved to write. Since Alcott's family had very little money, she was forced to go to work, at the same time she decided that she would try writing as a means of support to her family.
Alcott's Writings
Alcott's first book, a collection of fairytales called Flower Fables, was written when she was just 16. It was published six years later in 1854. When Alcott was 30 years old, she served as a nurse during the American Civil War. Her next book, Hospital Sketches, is about this experience.
Little Women
At 36, Alcott published Little Women, her most popular novel. Along with its sequel, Good Wives, Little Women tells the story of the March family, a lovely, heart-warming picture of family life, full of humor and loving relationships. It is based on Alcott's own home life. The main character, Jo March, is a self-portrait, and Jo's three sisters are based on Alcott's own beloved sisters.
Feminist in her Own Time
Alcott felt strongly that women should have voting rights, and she became involved in movements that demanded changes in society. Her strong beliefs sometimes carried through into her writing. She died on March 6, 1888, aged 55, apparently from after-effects of mercury poisoning she contracted during her service in the American Civil War.
Works by Louisa May Alcott
- Flower Fables, 1854
- Hospital sketches, 1863
- Moods, 1864
- Little Women, 1868
- Good Wives, 1869
- An Old-Fashioned Girl, 1870
- Little Men, 1871
- Eight Cousins, 1875
- Jo's Boys, 1886
- A Garland for Girls, 1888
- The Inheritance, 1998 (Published after L.M. Alcott died)
Sources:
Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Edinburgh. Chambers Harrap, 2002
Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring. Larousse, 1994
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