Customer Reviews

Louisa May Alcott and "Little Women": Biography, Critique, Publications, Poems, Songs, and Contemporary Relevance

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This triple-look at author Louisa May Alcott presents information I'd not seen in many of the other biographies. The special "finds" are a real contribution to literature. The book overall is scholarly, yet quite accessible in readability.

The unusual approach taken by Delamar here, is to give a biography of Louisa May Alcott, but then follow it up with an entire section devoted to Alcott's most famous book, "Little Women" as it was viewed from 1868 on, and then take both scholars' and average readers' assessments of it's place today. I liked that. It gave dimension. I think it shows scholarly research, but is written in language the average reader can read.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. Gloria Delamar refreshingly presents just the facts without inserting herself in to the text. She lets Louisa's life speak for itself. Yet Delamar's interests in Louisa did surface, highlighting her work for women's rights with many new interesting facts, and featuring many of her poems as a way of Louisa expressing herself. As a result, I felt I had more insight into this fascinating woman.

I have read 7 other biographies of Louisa May Alcott and thought I couldn't learn more. How wrong I was! This is a wonderful book.