May Flowers

by Louisa May Alcott

Excerpt from May Flowers
Being Boston girls, of course they got up a club for mental improvement, and, as they were all descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers, they called it the May Flower Club. A very good name, and the six young girls who were members of it made a very pretty posy when they met together, once a week, to sew, and read well-chosen books. At the first meeting of the season, after being separated all summer, there was a good deal of gossip to be attended to before the question, "What shall we read?" came up for serious discussion.
Anna Winslow, as president, began by proposing "Happy Dodd;" but a chorus of "I've read it!" made her turn to her list for another title.
"'Prisoners of Poverty' is all about working-women, very true and very sad; but Mamma said it might do us good to know something of the hard times other girls have," said Anna, soberly; for she was a thoughtful creature, very anxious to do her duty in all ways.
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Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Childrens, American

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May Alcott and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, including Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A.M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.
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, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still popular today among both children and adults. It has been adapted for stage plays, films, and television many times.
Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She also spent her life active in reform movements such as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, just two days after her father's death.

Reviews

[Praveen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light read.
Girls telling their own stories in their words,
soft...
Sympathetic and
lively too!
Not bad!

[Duane Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short story, about 75 pages. This volume is free on Kindle. This is the story of a group of young Boston girls, all descendants of the Pilgrims, who aptly call themselves the May Flowers. Their group is a social/book club, but they decide they want to devote their energies to a better cause, helping someone in need. They individually chose a project or person to help, and the following spring they will tell the group of their successes. Thus you have the premise of the story. Alcott in her usual classic style gives each girls account of their heartbreaking, heartwarming experience. This is written for the young and children so it won't appeal to everyone, but if you are an Alcott fan you will probably enjoy it.

[Kuro 3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing extraordinary, a nice read in between books.

From a modern perspective maybe a bit outdated, rich people struggling with the moral of being rich, oblivious to the struggling and looking down on the poor and then they discover how good it is to do good and how poor the poor people are. And then they feel good for doing the bare standard required/expected in a community of decent people.
It’s a story made for young rich girls in an attempt to teach them a bit empathy and bring them to do something good with their privilege. No poor person will revel in the fairytale of a young rich girl helping them so she can feel better.
But this is not a critique of the story, rather reality. If it’s a story like this that will open someone’s eyes and get them to think and act than I’m more than glad for people like L. M. Alcott who write them.

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav]

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To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

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“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

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" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

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Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

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[Heila · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting to me from a modern perspective (copyright 1887). I'm sure some would call is classist and I wondered about that myself with some of the stories - but Alcott manages to make the protagonists sympathetic, varied and human in their motivations. So I don't think the "classist" label sticks. I admire the way she wrote about the way our characters can be changed by caring for others but not without struggle or failings. Overall it was a compelling, entertaining short book written for what is now called the middle grade reader.

[أمير العطار · Rating 3 out of 5]

قصة لطيفة صغيرة تحكي عن مجموعة من الفتيات في إحدى نوادي بوسطن، يطلقون على أنفسهم مجموعة "ورود مايو"، يقررون أن يجعلوا لحياتهم هدف ومعنى عن طريق قيامهم ببعض الأعمال الخيرية للمحتاجين والفقراء، وذلك بدون مشاركة تجاربهم مع المجموعة إلا عند نهاية الشتاء. ثم وفي اجتماعهم الأخير تحكي كل واحدة منهم عن تجربتها وما مرت به وكيف أثر ذلك على شخصها وحياتها. ويتفرقون في النهاية وهم يشعرون بالمسئولية والسعادة، ويتطلعون إلى ما يمكن أن يقدموه أيضًا في المستقبل.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming short story of a group of young Boston girls who challenge each other to do good deeds through the long winter months ahead. Each girl's story of her efforts is than described in her own words of her successes and struggles along the way. I found it charming and inspiring and sweet. A wholesome reminder to be kind and share from our abundance in whatever way we are able to. :)

[Su · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Louisa Alcott wrote it, I'll read it. And this book is about as Louisa-ish as it gets. Complete candy floss, but a quick read.

[Annie K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

[Kathy Nealen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too preachy about young women doing good deeds.

[Lise Schleicher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preachy, even for Alcott.

[Mazie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely short story of a group of girls, deciding they can do more to help people in need around them; all of the girls are kind and sympathetic to the people they meet.

[Somebody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanted to give three stars but I love Maggie's story, so four stars.


09/06 87.0% ""If the little girls who want to help the world along would remember that charity begins at home, they would soon find enough to do.""
09/06 92.0% ""Duty is right, but it isn't easy, and the only comfort about it is a sort of quiet feeling you get after a while, and a strong feeling, as if you'd found something to hold on to and keep you steady... I made no plans, but just said each day,'I'll take what comes, and try to be cheerful and contented.'""

[marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic sweet Louisa May Alcott story, great for a light read. Just the sort of book I'd love to read at bedtime to my own daughter someday.