February 4, 2022 - The Center Woman’s Reading Club met on Thursday, January 20th at the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall.
Dottie West volunteered to give a short program on Louisa May Alcott. Ms. West found an article on Ms. Alcott in the December issue of National Geographic’s December issue. The issue offered information and facts about Ms. Alcott that are not commonly known.
Louisa May Alcott is best known for her book Little Women which was published in 1868. Following the publication of that novel, Alcott was popularly known as the “children’s friend”. The heartwarming stories she told in Little Women about the March sisters growing up in Civil War era Massachusetts, made her one of America’s best-selling and best love authors. Little Women spawned two sequels, a stage play, numerous films, a Broadway musical and an opera. It has sold an estimated 50 million copies and has been translated into as many as 50 languages.
Alcott was born in 1832 near Philadelphia, PA. She was the 2nd of four daughters raisedin an intellectual family. Unfortunately, her father was unable earn enough money to alleviate the family’s poverty. But what the family lacked in financial wealth they had in intellectual wealth and knowledge. Mentors and family friends included Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Louisa May Alcott was already writing by her mid-20s, often anonymously or under a pseudonym. It was right after she wrote Hospital Sketches that her publisher asked if she would write a novel for girls. At first, Alcott felt unqualified to write a book for girls. She said she “never liked girls nor knew many.” The girls she knew were her sisters and she felt “the plays and experiences” they shared would be of no interest to anyone. Yet, generations worldwide loved the novel that was based on Alcott and her sisters.
Louisa May Alcott had another side to her writing. In addition to Little Women, Little Men and Jo’s Boys, she wrote and published about 30 Gothic thrillers under another name. These Gothic thrillers were filled with passion and revenge, “blood and thunder” novels as she called them. In 1866, Alcott wrote A Long Fatal Love Chase. Although it was rejected at the time, it was finally published in 1995 and became a best seller.
Louisa May Alcott never married. In Little Women, Jo’s character is never shy about her thoughts on marriage. “For marriage, they say, halves one’s rights and doubles one’s duties.”
Delicious refreshments were served and a time of fellowship followed.
Guests are always welcome. Please contact the club membership coordinator, Monty Jones, at 936-598-5757 if you are interested in visiting the club.
