Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Even women who did leave a detailed record of their lives, such as Louisa May Alcott, were often not forthcoming about their erotic desires, or may have foregone romantic relationships to pursue their work. Alcott, who published twenty-nine books and story collections in forty-four years, told poet Louise Chandler Moulton in 1873 that she had remained a spinster “because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man.” A bold statement that gives few details. Like most of the reform-minded women in her circle, Alcott was an ardent feminist and questioned how women’s relationships with men affected their place in society. In the 1870s she and friends, including Julia Ward Howe, recommended that women not use “Mrs.” or “Miss” to avoid discrimination. (Bronski, Michael (2011-05-10). A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History) (Kindle Locations 1680-1686). Random House Inc Clients. Kindle Edition.) (P:

Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist best known as author of the novel Little Women and its sequels Good Wives, Little Men and Jo's Boys. Raised by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott in New England, she grew up among many of the well-known intellectuals of the day such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. Nevertheless, her family suffered severe financial difficulties and Alcott worked to help support the family from an early age. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used the pen name A. M. Barnard. With her pen name Louisa wrote novels for young adults in juvenile hall.

Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters. The novel was very well received and is still a popular children's novel today. Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist. She died in Boston.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_May_Alcott

Further Readings:

A Queer History of the United States (ReVisioning American History) by Michael Bronski
Series: ReVisioning American History
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press (May 15, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0807044652
ISBN-13: 978-0807044650
Amazon: A Queer History of the United States
Amazon Kindle: A Queer History of the United States

Winner of a 2012 Stonewall Book Award in nonfiction

A Queer History of the United States is more than a “who’s who” of queer history: it is a book that radically challenges how we understand American history. Drawing upon primary-source documents, literature, and cultural histories, scholar and activist Michael Bronski charts the breadth of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history, from 1492 to the 1990s.

More LGBT History at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Gay Classics