Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)

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Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist. Alcott was the daughter of noted transcendentalist and educator Amos Bronson Alcott and Abigail May Alcott. She was the second of four daughters: Anna Bronson Alcott was the eldest; Elizabeth Sewall Alcott and Abigail May Alcott were the two youngest.

She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868.

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As a young child she and the family did a ton of moving because they harvested fruits and veggies. The Alcotts returned to Concord once again in 1857 and bought another property in May 1858. At the time of purchase the site included two early eighteenth century houses on a 12 acre apple orchard. The Alcotts named it Orchard House. Bronson moved the smaller house to adjoin the rear of the main house, making a single larger structure.

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Alcott's early education included lessons from the naturalist Henry David Thoreau. She received the majority of her schooling from her father. She received some instruction also from writers and educators such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Fuller, who were all family friends. She later described these early years in a newspaper sketch entitled "Transcendental Wild Oats". Which was prose satire written about her family's involvement with the Transcendentalist community Fruitlands in the early 1840s. She also wrote passionate, fiery novels and sensational stories under the pen name A. M. Barnard. Among these are A Long Fatal Love Chase and Pauline's Passion and Punishment.

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Louisa’s career as an author began with poetry and short stories that appeared in popular magazines.  In 1854, when she was 22, her first book Flower Fables was published.  A milestone along...

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