Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29th, 1832. Louisa passed away March 6th, 1888 at 55 years old. Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, USA.

Louisa May Alcott is known for writing in the Historical Fiction and Literary Fiction genres.

Louisa May Alcott made her name as the author of the popular literary classic Little Women. However, while she was a notable author, she was also known for her work as a women’s rights advocate and nurse during the Civil War.

She was the daughter of parents who were very active in the Transcendentalist Movement, which emphasized religious practice as the lens through which a person was seen. Moreover, her father Bronson Alcott believed that children learn best when they enjoy writing and reading. As such, Louisa developed a love for writing while still very young.

While she studied under notable personalities such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau, her early writing career was blighted by environmental and personal stressors. Her family had all manner of financial woes and she was forced to work odd jobs such as washing laundry, cleaning, and teaching to help out.

Despite the many challenges, she managed to publish Sunlight her first poem in 1951. While the magazine that published it paid her very little money, the fact that it was published convinced her that she could become a professional writer.

During the Civil War, Louisa May Alcott worked as a nurse where she assisted doctors in performing amputations and comforted dying soldiers. In 1863, she began campaigning for the abolition of slavery, even as she published her first novel Hospital Sketches in 1863 to jumpstart her career.

After a short bout of illness, Louisa died of mercury poisoning in Boston Massachusetts in 1888 aged 56.

Little Women is a work that Louisa May Alcott published in 1868. The work follows Amy, Meg, Beth, and Jo the March sisters as they struggle to make it in a world in which women are relegated to working household chores. The sisters each with their distinct personalities are under the guidance of Marmee their mother who leads them from adolescence to adulthood with all the sorrow and joy in between.

Alcott published Little Men, the sequel to her debut in 1871. The work is set a few years after the events of the first novel and follows Jo March and Professor Bhaer her husband who have started a school. Jo and her husband have two sons in addition to a dozen orphan boys, which means they are always having to deal with the kids getting into all manner of troubles and scrapes.

Jo’s Boys is a work that Louisa May Alcott published in 1886. It goes back to Plumfield, New England where it reconnects with Jo, Professor Bhaer her husband, and the boys. The boys are all grown up and are leading exciting lives, even though Jo remains central to the story as she guides them through the chaos and disappointments in life.

Louisa May Alcott: Awards & Accolades

Alcott's book, Women Who Wrote was nominated for the Audie Award, Best Multi-Voiced Performance Award, in 2021.

Louisa May Alcott: Lists & Other Mentions

• Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy:
  1. NPR: 100 Best Beach Books Selection in 2009.
  2. Good Housekeeping: 100 Best Books to Read by Women Authors Selection in 2021.
  3. The Guardian: 100 Best Novels Written in English Selection in 2015.
  4. Amazon UK: 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime Selection in 2014.
  5. The Guardian: 100 Greatest Novels of All Time Selection in 2003 and 2015.
  6. Penguin: 100 Must-Read Classic Books Selection in 2022.
  7. The Guardian: 50 Best-Loved Novels Written by a Woman Selection in 2003.
  8. Jezebel: 75 Books Every Woman Should Read Selection in 2008.
  9. The Daily Mail: A Hundred Novels to Change Your Life Selection in 2019.
  10. WordsRated: America’s 100 Favorite Books Selection in 2024.
  11. BBC: Radio Oxford 100 Books You Must Read Before You Die Selection in 2020.
  12. TES Magazine: Teacher's Favourite Books List Selection in 2013.
  13. Time Magazine: The 100 Best YA Books of All Time Selection in 2021.
  14. BBC: The Big Read Selection in 2003.
  15. Waterstones: The Books You've Always Meant to Read Selection in 2020.
  16. PBS: The Great American Read Selection in 2018.
  17. Gilmore Girls: The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge Selection in 2007.
  18. Refinery29: The Ultimate Book Bucket List Selection in 2023.

Related Authors

Fans of Louisa May Alcott also enjoy these authors:

1. Khaled Hosseini, author of: The Kite Runner.
2. Ann Napolitano, author of: Hello Beautiful.
3. Kristin Hannah, author of: The Nightingale.
4. Alix E. Harrow, author of: The Ten Thousand Doors of January.
5. Anne Hillerman, author of the Leaphorn & Chee Series.
6. Elizabeth Strout, author of the Olive Kitteridge Series.
7. Emma Donoghue, author of: Room.
8. Susan Wiggs, author of: The Lost and Found Bookshop.
9. Alice Sebold, author of: The Lovely Bones.
10. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of: Eat, Pray, Love.

Louisa May Alcott: F.A.Q