Louisa May Alcott

(Paperback)

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This is a fresh, modern take on this remarkable and prolific writer, a woman who secretly authored pulp fiction, harboured radical abolitionist views, and served as a Civil War nurse. Harriet Reisen's vivid biography explores Alcott's life in the context of her works, all of which are to some extent autobiographical. This lyrically written biography will appeal to anyone who ever loved Alcott's works, and will reveal the origins of her fiction in the far-reaching experiences of her life.

Reviews

"At last, Louisa May Alcott has the biography that admirers of Little Women might have hoped for." --The Wall Street Journal's Best 10 Books of the Year

"A magnificent new biography . . . a classic." --The Washington Times

"Fans will adore Harriet Reisen's sympathetic biography. . . .With charming verve, she details Alcott's remarkable if difficult life." --USA Today

"Superb . . . punctuates the myths of the Alcott family, rendering Louisa May with nuance." --Chicago Tribune

"A biography as vibrant as its subject." --Vogue

"Reisen's lifelong fascination with Little Women and the woman who wrote it has produced an absorbing narrative, in many ways the best ever, of Alcott's own life. . . . The utterly compelling force of Alcott's personality has never been better described. I found the book compulsively readable; I couldn't put it down." --Robert Richardson, author of Emerson: The Mind on Fire and Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind

"Brilliantly researched. . . . Her biography will occupy an essential place on any Alcott bookshelf." --John Matteson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father

"A beautifully written, significant, and fascinating work. Harriet Reisen does with this biography what Alcott did with her writing--gives us a memorable and inspiring gift full of humanity, heart, and soul." --Winona Ryder, producer and star of Little Women (1994)

Author Bio

Harriet Reisen has written dramatic and historical scripts for PBS and HBO, including a recent PBS documentary on Louisa May Alcott. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son.