Author: Louisa May Alcott

About :

Louisa was born the second of four daughters to Amos Alcott and Abby May in Germantown (now part of Philadelphia), Penn. The Alcott family moved frequently, and even served as station masters on the Underground Railroad in 1847.

The Alcott family had financial difficulties, causing Louisa to begin working from an early age, including through writing. Louisa’s writing career began to take off after the publication of letters written home during her time as a Civil War Nurse in the Union Hospital in 1862-1863. Unfortunately, she contracted Typhoid and nearly died. Although she recovered, she remained weak the rest of her life.

In Louisa’s early years, she often wrote short stories using pen names (such as A. M. Bernard). Between 1863-1872, she wrote at least 33 “gothic thrillers” for magazines and papers. That these were written by Louisa Alcott was only rediscovered in 1975. Louisa’s success increased with the publication of the semi-autobiographical account of her childhood, known as Little Women, in 1868.

A friend encouraged Louisa to write more books for girls, and so Little Women has multiple sequels, Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871), and Jo’s Boys (1886). Good Wives has since been published together with Little Women. The Orchard House, where the Alcott family lived, and the setting in Little Women, has been a historic house museum since 1912.

Louisa May Alcott died of a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, only two days after her father passed.

Date Lived: Nov. 29, 1832 – Mar. 6, 1888 (age 55)
Notable Works: Little Women, Little Men, Jo’s Boys
Works in Public Domain: YES