Eden's outcasts : the story of Louisa May Alcott and her father / John Matteson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Matteson, John.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888--Family.

Alcott, Louisa May.

Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888.

Authors, American--Family relationships.

Authors, American.

Fathers and daughters--United States--Biography.

Fathers and daughters.

Families.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 497 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : W.W. Norton & Co., [2007]

Summary:

Louisa May Alcott's name is known universally. Yet, during her youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson-an eminent teacher and lecturer and an admired friend of Emerson and Thoreau. He desired perfection, both for the world and from his family. Willful and exuberant, Louisa was anything but the model daughter. While her three sisters more readily won Bronson's favor, Louisa puzzled and appalled him with her mercurial moods and restless yearnings for money and fame. The other prize she deeply coveted-her father's understanding-seemed the hardest of all to win.

At the same time that the clashing personalities of father and daughter threatened to drive them apart, their struggles to find beauty and justice in an imperfect world continually reunited them. Plagued by disappointments, Bronson fought to recover from the collapse of his career and an ensuing mental breakdown. Encouraged by her mother and sisters and fortified by the guidance of Bronson's literary friends, Louisa traveled an improbable path from her father's Utopian community through the hospitals of the Civil War to the cultured drawing rooms of Europe. Seeking always to ease her family's poverty, she made a living writing stories for magazines until Little Women changed her life forever, earning her not only wealth but also an enduring place among America's most admired writers. This story of Bronson and Louisa's tense yet loving relationship adds dimensions to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters.

Contents:

Prologue: Disgrace 3

Chapter 1 Beginnings 13

Chapter 2 A Birthday in Germantown 39

Chapter 3 The Temple School 55

Chapter 4 "Orpheus at the Plough" 86

Chapter 5 The Sowing of the Seeds 116

Chapter 6 First Fruits 134

Chapter 7 Lost Illusions 150

Chapter 8 Father and Daughter 165

Chapter 9 Destitution 196

Chapter 10 Orchard House 233

Chapter 11 War 260

Chapter 12 Shadows and Sunlight 285

Chapter 13 Journeys East and West 308

Chapter 14 Miracles 334

Chapter 15 "The Wise and Beautiful Truths of the Father" 355

Chapter 16 "Come Up with Me" 400.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 429-470) and index.

Pulitzer Prize, 2008.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Schneidman fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780393059649