Louisa May: The World and Works of Louisa May Alcott

by Norma Johnston

A biography of Louisa May Alcott traces the influence of her family life on her writings

Genres: Nonfiction

239 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 1991

About the author

Norma Johnston was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA, the only child of Marjorie (Pierce), a teacher and Charles Eugene Chambers Johnston, an engineer. She read voraciously--especially mysteries, to which her family was addicted. She was ducated at Ramsey public schools and Montclair State College, later studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and elsewhere, and received a teaching certificate from Montclair College. She was actress, director, designer, stylist, retailer, teacher, counselor, entrepreneur, preacher, editor, ... and in between all her other careers she was the author of more than 70 novels, mainly gothic romances for teens. She become a a full-time writer in 1973.

Johnston also wrote under the pseudonyms of Nicole St. John, Pamela Dryden, Lavinia Harris, Kate Chambers, Catherine E. Chambers, Elizabeth Bolton, and Adrian Robert.

Reviews

[Tarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough biography of Louisa May Alcott and her family.

Contains an index and bibliography at the end. A very informative and well-researched book.

[Leanna Shepard Conley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louisa’s life was amazing, but this biographer’s writing style is not my cup of tea.

[Keerthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the making of the woman behind the iconic book 'Little Women'. A short biography of the family of the author and how she grew up poor in material things, but not in love and determination.
I would have liked a little more detail about Louisa alone but, as I understood from the book and from her works, you cannot understand Louisa without first understanding her family. The idealistic pursuits of her father and his wayward nature put the family through poverty and the women of the family rose up to provide for each other. Louisa made up her mind to provide for the family for as long as she lived. And she did, with her writing.
This is my first biography of Louisa May and I enjoyed it.

[Bexter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Dispelled some of the beliefs I held about her family and relationships. I was on a tour of Orchard House many years ago where the tour guide said that Louisa was like a soul-mate to her father--so close that she died immediately after he did. This book refutes that idea.

[Candy Asmus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must read for any one who loves L.M. Alcott. This is my first biography of hers & I learned so much.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Louisa May Alcott's books, so when I spotted this biography on my bookish friend, Kathleen's shelves I thought I would sneak it home to read. I really like how the biography starts with Ms. Alcott's family history, especially her father and then later her parent's romance and marriage. It helps set the stage for what motivated Louisa to write. I also like that true to the sub-title, the book delves into the world of the Alcotts, who their friends were, the cultural and societal events that they were part of . It provides an interesting look at people, places and ideas that later would be very well known. Despite having read many of Alcott's books, I found a couple that I haven't read yet. Perhaps I will find them on other people's bookshelves. :)

[MeKency · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, even though it took me over six months to read (it's not that long I just had too many books going)! I liked following the story of her life and when and where she wrote the works that she's famous for. I knew to some degree that "Little Women" and the following books in that series were inspired by her family, but it was really neat to see the correlation between her life and those characters. I would definitely recommend this book to any Alcott lover.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the first LMA biography I've read, but the one which covered the most details about her family. I learned a lot about her idealistic, minimalist oft-absent father and how her family life shaped her goals.

[Nancy lauterbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly insightful read into the live and lives of Louisa and her family. A remarkable lady who's inner strength intelligence, and character help her overcome poverty, hardship, and evolve into a heroine for all time. I loved Little Women and want to read more of her works.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just the first book I've read about her life, but it was very interesting. I've loved Little Women since the moment I finished it and it was nice to find out about the woman behind it.

[Claudia Vara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, but I would have liked more information about herself as a child and not so much about Bronson.