Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography by Susan Cheever

[Divia]

Louisa May Alcott has been given a lot of press lately. She had a documentary made about her last year, an amazing biography by Ms. Reisen, two spoofs on her book Little Women, a novel entitled The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, this biography and a new nonfiction book dealing with the Alcotts' experience at Fruitlands. Finally, Louisa May Alcott is getting the recognition she deserves. Although, perhaps we shouldn't celebrate too much about the spoofs.

With eager anticipation I waited for this book. I snatch up all biographies on Alcott. It's always interesting to see what an author thinks of the famous woman. This book is a small one, coming in at only 260 pages. The rest of the book consists of notes and a bibliography. Since it is so short don't expect anything mind blowing. As the title to my review suggest this is a good beginner biography.

The book starts in 1832, but flashes back to Louisa's childhood. I wasn't fond of this approach, but it isn't a deal breaker. For almost half of the book it's about the Alcott experience, not about Louisa. I'm wondering if the author did this to strengthen her argument that those in the family were Alcotts first and individuals second. Louisa's personal journals are rarely used in this book. Everyone in the Alcott family kept a journal, yet these journals are not referenced as much as they could be. However, I wonder if Elizabeth had a journal. I cannot recall anyone every using quotes from it. The second half of the book has more quotes from Louisa and she becomes the focus of the book.

We get brief glimpses into her life. For instance, when Liz dies there is only one quote about Louisa seeing the mist rise from her dead sister's body. However, in another book I recall reading a moving moment where Louisa was sewing the burial cloth and was so overcome by emotion she fled the room. That's more of an emotional punch than "Look mist is rising." We knew that her younger sister was an important part of Louisa's life yet the author glosses over her death. The author also gets her information wrong by saying that Liz was the youngest Alcott sister more than once. The sisters are hardly mentioned. While I understand this is a book about Louisa, the author wrote about Mr. Alcott a great deal. Didn't her sisters have an impact on Louisa's life as well?

I also agree with Publishers Weekly that ".. some may find Cheever's digressions and self-referencing grating." I most certainly did. I'm not interested in her thoughts on how writers think about books or how they write. This isn't a self help book for writers, this book isn't about Ms. Cheever, its a book on Louisa May Alcott.

There were some interesting theories dropped in this book, one in particular grabbed my attention. But the problem is the author never backed up the statement. She throws it into our laps and uses one sentence to defend is and then that's it. For example on page 28 the author explains how Bronson was released from a job for "caressing the students-especially the females." He wrote this in his own journal. So, was he a child molester? And did he molest Louisa and that is why she was so wild? The author asks "Can we apply a twenty first century context for a few scraps of nineteenth-century journal?" I dunno, but I think that's what the author is doing. Which, is fine, but let's get some more evidence to back this statement up. Why even write it? Let's investigate. But there is no investigation. The small paragraph just hangs there on the page sticking out like the large elephant in the room. As a reader I'm wondering what should I do next? Do I dwell on this or move on? I choose to move on.

This book was decent, but you won't find anything in this new biography that you couldn't find in a dozen other biographies on Louisa May Alcott. The writing is good, and its an easy read, which one cannot say about all non fiction books. If someone is looking for a quick biography on Louisa and they have never read anything about her life then this book is fine. However, for Alcott fans who have read Ms. Reisen and other biographies on Alcott this one will fall flat.

[Brenna]

[quote=""Divia""]Louisa May Alcott has been given a lot of press lately. She had a documentary made about her last year, an amazing biography by Ms. Reisen, two spoofs on her book Little Women, a novel entitled The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, this biography and a new nonfiction book dealing with the Alcotts' experience at Fruitlands. Finally, Louisa May Alcott is getting the recognition she deserves. Although, perhaps we shouldn't celebrate too much about the spoofs.


This book was decent, but you won't find anything in this new biography that you couldn't find in a dozen other biographies on Louisa May Alcott. The writing is good, and its an easy read, which one cannot say about all non fiction books. If someone is looking for a quick biography on Louisa and they have never read anything about her life then this book is fine. However, for Alcott fans who have read Ms. Reisen and other biographies on Alcott this one will fall flat.[/quote]

Divia-

Which books HF or NF would you recommend about her? I think my grandmother would be very interested in some books! thanks.

[Divia]

For biographies I really enjoyed The Woman behind Little Women. It was a well rounded bio and it dives deep into Alcott's life.

HF I can only recall a few books. I enjoyed The Lost summer of LMA(but the love story was a bit of a strech) still, a fun read. There is the Glory Cloak, but Louisa is more of a secondary character than anything else.

She also has a series of books where she is a detective. These are by by Anna Maclean. But there is only 3 in the series(that I know of). She is a good writer, and Ms. Maclean captures the time period really well.

Hope this helps.

[Brenna]

I added the Woman behind Little Women after reading your review above but just thought I would check to see if there were any others! Thank you!

[Misfit]

[quote=""Brenna""]I added the Woman behind Little Women after reading your review above but just thought I would check to see if there were any others! Thank you![/quote]

I won that from Goodreads but it is languishing on the pile at the moment. I liked the Glory Cloak a lot as well.

[Brenna]

Thanks Misfit. May have to wait on this one as it is $22.00 for paperback on amazon.com

[Misfit]

[quote=""Brenna""]Thanks Misfit. May have to wait on this one as it is $22.00 for paperback on amazon.com[/quote]

If you mean The Glory Cloak, don't forget your library and/or interlibrary loan. It is out there.

[Divia]

Yeah it should be out there at your library or at an ILL.

Also it looks like the mystery series is coming back with a reissue.

[Brenna]

They were gift ideas, so using the library would be a bit difficult. Thanks though!

[Divia]

There are a few copies of the glory cloak on ebay for cheap. I think a few were 99 cents.