Customer Reviews

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This novel was an easy read yet set an intriguing plot that allowed the reader to imagine what might have happened one summer in the life of Louisa May Alcott. The author set the stage for the 1800's time frame and gave the reader a feel for what life was like in the small town of Walpole, New Hampshire. It also gave true insight into the dynamics of the Alcott family, the access the girls had to education and the hardships they endured from their father's philosophy. The heart of the story was the on again, off again romance between Louisa May and Joseph Singer. The experience definitely could have been life changing for the two. The final chapter did catch the reader up and answered many questions that came to mind from reading the story. The use of book quotes at the start of each chapter was a nice touch and reminded the reader of many great works that they might want to read again. This book is a must read for any Louisa May Alcott fan.

If one is prepared to accept the premiss that Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women is semi-autobiographical, and that Martha Saxton's biography of her is the definitive account, then Kelly O'Connor McNee's `The Lost Summer...' can be considered as the third part of a literary troika which gives a combined perspective of Louisa May's life and work.

Even setting such a notion aside, there is much to be gleaned from this novel, which is an imagination of events in Louisa May's life inspired by both Little Women and the biography.

The action takes place in the summer of 1855 when the family, on the insistence of father Alcott, who seems unable to settle in any particular place for long, lands in the New England town of Walpole. Louisa May, forever at odds with her father, would love to break away and seek her freedom and independence elsewhere - preferably in Boston - but out of loyalty to her mother and her sisters she stays in order to help them set up home.

She meets people, and one of them, a storeowner called Joseph Singer (a fictional character) brings love to her life. But Louisa May has a dream, a dream of becoming a writer, and so is presented with a dilemma: If she also settles in Walpole, marries Joseph and becomes a wife and mother, will she throw away a chance of fulfilling her dream?

Kelly O'Connor McNee has vividly evoked the nineteenth century period just before the American Civil War through her characterizations and her descriptions of real events that seamlessly blend with her fictional narrative. It is a quick and enjoyable read, with any loose ends nicely wrapped together in a satisfactory conclusion.

It must be said this novel contains many allusions to Little Women but it is no mirror image; Louisa May is very much the main focus and, although her father occasionally looms large, family members have lesser roles to play than in the original work.

A book for Alcott enthusiasts, although perhaps not for the scholarly type - it being written in a simple, straight forward prose style that doesn't really challenge the reader. Four stars.

Like so many other young readers, Louisa May Alcott was one of the first authors that I really connected with. For years after my first reading experience with Little Women, I counted Louisa May Alcott as my favorite author. I wrote countless book reports on her and beginning at age ten I read all of her major works from Little Women to Eight Cousins to Jack and Jill until I was about sixteen.

Within all of these works, there always seemed to be a slip of Louisa shining through, but I never really knew the author behind those words despite what facts I tried to glean from biographical sources. Those who enjoyed Little Women will enjoy this story of Louisa and her humble family as well, though this is told with more of the modern fashion of today and with a bit more of a depressive pall over the general story. The situation is very similar though, with the sisters' relationships and the era, which is depicted well in this new novel.

The poverty that Louisa's family faced was different then one would off-handedly assume. When one is thought of as being poor, we tend to think that the provider in the family is naturally doing everything in his power to achieve a better way of life for the family, yet perhaps circumstances have not been kind to them. That was not the case with the Alcotts. Louisa's father, Bronson, was a Transcendentalist, and did not believe in obtaining money for his speeches that he gave, and was against commercial gains. His family gave what they should have kept for themselves, as they were humble enough to realize that giving was better than receiving, even if they themselves did not have enough candles for the night or enough bread for the day.


From what I recall reading Louisa's writings many moons ago, her spirited wit and happiness within family and hope seemed to emanate throughout, even when there was destitution or poverty. Beginning to read McNees' telling, this story is at the point where Louisa and her sister Anna were in their early twenties living at home with the greatest hope of escaping. The vibrancy of childish hope is no longer at the forefront, s these girls are mature enough to realize the struggles that adulthood provides. This summer that the author writes of in this novel illustrated the inner struggles that the elder girls faced, as they were torn between their family loyalties and their wishes for a better life for themselves. Anna had hopes for a marriage and children, while Louisa aches for independence so that she can write her stories. Once Louisa meets Joseph Singer, Louisa is faced with the struggle between the romantic bliss of a new love which eludes to a promise of family, versus that very same independence that Louisa has worked towards for years and counted on as her way of life.


This story was extremely eloquent and reminiscent of Alcott's writing as I felt whisked away to her time period, and I was utterly bereft when the novel was over. It had me from the front cover. The novel focused on one aspect of Louisa's life that was entirely fictitious, but was still well worth my time. The fictitious aspect concerned a love affair with a gentle young man, who was ready to run away with Louisa and make a new life for the both of them. I fervently hoped that she would accept his love and run away with him so that she would be privy to the solace of a family of her own. But could Louisa have been satisfied with such a momentous decision?


I felt so close to Louisa through this author's re-imaginings and I wish the novel started out when Louisa was small and ended with Louisa's death. I still would have savored a thousand page book if told in the same fashion that this novel was told in. I highly recommend The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott to all fans of Louisa May Alcott and those who are interested late 1800's New England culture. The details of the way of life and the settings were wonderfully inserted and made for a piece of work that the private Louisa May Alcott would have been proud of. I even enjoyed the cover of the book, it was very well done and the chapters beginning with quotes and time periods were helpful for setting the stage. The chapters that began with a quote from Louisa's works made me realize I really need to go back and re-read her work. The one complaint is that it was entirely too short, but since it was a tale focused on summer love I understand the need for brevity. It felt like a minor blip in regards to the true scope of Louisa's life, and I still feel the need for more on Louisa for which I will read some other works such as Eden's Outcasts by John Matteson and March by Geraldine Brooks. Since it was so focused on a love story, I would also recommend this to chick-lit fans and is even appropriate for the Young Adult genre since it was such an easy read.

This was a fabulous debut novel for Kelly O'Connor McNees which makes me wonder what is next from her pen as I will be eager to read more from her. The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott is a fantastic addition to my Louisa May Alcott library that totally exceeded my expectations. This is going on my Top Ten Faves of 2010 list.

I couldn't help it. The entire time I was reading this book, I had the soundtrack to Little Women (1994) running through my head. You can't help but compare this fictional version of Louisa Alcott's life to her own novel based on her personal life. It's too uncanny to not see the resembles between the two sets of sisters. I love historical fiction and Louisa Alcott is like the American version of Jane Austen so I was really eager to read this book.

The core of this book, like Little Women itself, is family. The sisters in the book are very close and you feel a real kinship with them. I did get annoyed at Bronson Alcott and how he kept making his family suffer just because of his philosophical whims. It would be one thing for him to do it by himself, but then to force his wife and children was just wrong. The thing that got on my nerves the most was his refusal to work for money even though his family was almost destitute. Luckily, his wife is just as strong as Marmee March and provides the stability that her daughters need that they cannot get from their father. The sisters are all very close and provide the closeness and friendship each young woman needs in her life.

Louisa is very much like Jo, as she's headstrong and a writer. However she doesn't see herself getting married because that would deter her from fulfilling her lifelong dream. Her relationship with Joseph complicates all this and she finds herself at odds with whether to follow her heart or her dreams. I have to admit, I was a bit shocked at what happened in the middle of the book. Maybe it's because I kept picturing Jo, but what Louisa and Joseph did rather surprised me. Mind you, it's nothing overly graphic or even descriptive but just the implications made me raise my eyebrows.

Also I'm a bit slow because it wasn't until near the last chapter where it dawned on me where the name Josephine might have come from. I can't believe I went through almost the entire book and didn't realize it. This book also reminded me very of the movie Becoming Jane, where again another famous author is fictionalized about a romance that inspired one of her heroines. While it's not a direct duplication, there are lots of similarities that made me think of the other. Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book. As I stated earlier, I love historical fiction and I really like reading fictionalized accounts of famous historical figures as long as they are kept in character and not become too modern. This book wonderfully blends the true nature of Alcott with the hope of what could have been. This is a wonderful debut from McNees and I'll be looking forward to reading future books from her.

In The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, we are introduced to a 22 year old Louisa, who is moving to Walpole, New Hampshire with her family due to financial difficulties. While there Louisa struggles with the desire to be a writer and duty to her family. Love and marriage are not options she is willing to consider. She would like nothing more than to go to Boston, live alone and be a writer. Then she meets Joseph Singer. Louisa finds herself smitten and confused. Is there room for love, family and writing? Kelly O'Connor McNees captures the essence of the Alcott family beautifully. I felt that the way the family was depicted was in line with things I have read or seen about the Alcott family. Louisa was just a I had imagined her to be and reminded me of Jo in Little Women. I enjoyed this book immensely! I can't recommend it enough. Just like when I read Little Women as a young girl, I didn't want this story to end! I'm looking forward to seeing what Kelly O'Connor McNees writes next.

I am a big fan of Louisa May Alcott and even had the chance to visit her homestead in Concord - it, therefore, made reading this book all that much fun - trying to imagine her in this home, living this story, as told by Kelly O'Connor Mcnees. This is a "what if" novel - which intrigued me. What if Alcott had owned up to her true passion for that "special" man - the one she is truly rumored to have been in love with? Would she have died lonely and single as she did? after all she did for the various members of her family?

I think the author wrote this book, in part, to answer this question that I believe many Alcott fans have. The Lost Summer is a fun read because it gives us the "right" to go through her life and to find out more about the person, especially the "woman" side of her - which, let's face it, we have not really read or heard all that much about in the past.

I liked this book because it was a great way to escape and go back in time to another time, with an author that I really like. It was almost like "invading her privacy" and reading Alcott's own thoughts - I am always a big fan of books that answer the burning "what if" questions and this one certainly did.

So, why the 3 stars? This YA was a tad too simplistic for me - I was hoping for something with a little more bite and intensity - a little too vanilla at times.

I highly recommend this novel. What appealed to me the most about this novel was that all of the characters had complex motivations, with none of them being either wholly positive or negative. It's rare to find a novel which can treat its characters affectionately, while still describing them warts-and-all. I'm certainly looking forward to Kelly McNees' next book.

I love Louisa May Alcott, her books, her life story. I've been following her life, read biographies, the whole 9 yards. I know that a lot of fictionalized "biographies" suffer because we are all too familiar with the writing skills of the subject, in this case Alcott. She already wrote a fictionalized book about her life, and it's a work of art.

Even if McNees isn't writing at Alcott's level, it's still a fun read, and brings our favorite Little Women family to life. Yes, I wish it was really true, but I think McNees did have some very smart insights into Alcott's life that she brought forward - including the concept that the reason Alcott remained single is that if she married and had children, she would be forced to give up her writing because all her time would be spent doing household chores - being a wife and mother as defined by the times. I really liked this book.

I'm an avid reader and I love fiction, so I was excited when Kelly O'Connor McNees' book found it's way to our doorstep. She combines fact and fiction in her wonderful story about Louisa May Alcott's life, called The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. In reading (and watching in recent films) the stories that Louisa May Alcott wrote, it's the ones that are close to the truth of her own life that most draw me in. I love fantastical stories as well, but knowing that in her writing she was conveying truth about her life and family, it is extra interesting to me. McNees' own writing takes on an "Alcott-esque" quality, and it seems a natural flow of events as she writes her ideas about the life of Alcott.

I don't know about you, but as I think of works of memorable writers, I am intrigued with their own lives and what they endured to bring them to the point where they were ready to write about their experiences. It provides a bit of insight into what took them to where they got to. I love creating back stories for people in general, so reading McNees' sort of "back story" for Louisa May Alcott, it was fun to imagine with her what Alcott's life might have been like.

It's a story about a woman finding her own way in a world where women were often confined to the responsibilities of the home, and were questioned when they pursued other passions. I would recommend the book to those who enjoy reading about day to day struggles of women living in the mid to late 19th century. It's a lovely story of love, life and the tension between passion and responsibility.

In a sentence: I adored this book!

I can still remember sitting in the back seat of my parents' car when I was twelve years old, driving to North Carolina for my first look at snow. I was consumed with Little Women - I knew from that moment that I would always love reading. Jo's character was so admirable to me: strong, smart, focused, independent. She was everything that I could see myself wanting to be.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott provided a spectacular glimpse at the author that brought me Jo. The view of Alcott's hometown, the family that shaped her life, and an opportunity to move away and become the writer that she wanted to be was breathtakingly real. I enjoyed the way that the author provided background to Alcott's home life, including her father's transcendentalist lifestyle to which he dedicated all of his focus, despite the ill effects that it may have on his family.

Louisa's relationship with Joseph Singer was stunning and heartbreaking. Louisa's character was so strong and determined to follow her dreams of writing that she was not looking for the love that she found with Joseph. The descriptions of their romance were lovely and real. I felt as if I was reading a novel from the 19th or early 20th century and liked how McNees did not feel the need to give in your face descriptions of the love affair, but provided just enough to let your heart imagine their affection.

I highly recommend The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. McNees has created a wonderful love story and an empowering story for women that was worthy of Louisa May Alcott's life.