Customer Reviews

Spinning-Wheel Stories

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I've just finished reading Louisa May Alcott's "Spinning Wheel Stories." This is one of her lesser-known collections of short stories, first published in 1884. I don't believe it's been reprinted since the early part of the 1900's (not counting any modern print-on-demand editions).

The premise is simple enough: a severe winter storm has snow-bound the members of an extended family who are gathered in the old homestead for the Christmas holidays. While exploring the attic, the children find an old spinning wheel. A couple of the girls want to try and learn to spin, so in the evenings as the grandmother teaches them, one adult or another tells stories (many of them being about "the good old days") to the roomful of children. This collection of twelve tales is a mix, containing some stories that seem specifically written to appeal to girls, and others that will appeal to boys.

The stories aren't bad---I enjoyed reading them. And I think any admirer of Alcott's work is of course going to want to read the book. Those with an interest in Victorian children's literature would also likely enjoy the tales. However, I honestly have no idea whether the average young person today would find this of interest---I suppose it simply depends on the individual. All I can say is that, even as a child, I liked this old-fashioned sort of storytelling.

(You know, I'm almost certain that I've seen an old spinning wheel tucked away in a corner of the attic here---I'm going to have to investigate!)

This was a recent purchase for me---a nice addition to my growing Alcott collection---and I'll post some photographs of both the interior and exterior of my rather worn and faded copy here on Amazon. Vintage Victorian editions of Alcott's books aren't particularly difficult to find; unfortunately, really pristine copies tend to be expensive, and I'm on a budget. And so, the majority of the titles I've been acquiring do tend to show more than a little wear!

The cover is rather plain, but I quite like it, what with the spidery printing, the gilt spinning wheel, and the meandering thread that underscores the words before being caught up on some sort of spindle. This was the standard binding for this title throughout the 1880's and 1890's. A close-up of the gilt shows the stamping is nicely detailed. And the spine is nicely decorated as well, so it looks good on the shelf.

The book contains no full-page illustrations, but each chapter is headed by a nice little vignette. I think these are charming---I'll post a few samples from some of the stories.