A Hopeful Heart: Louisa May Alcott Before Little Women

by Deborah Noyes

How did Little Women-- the beloved literary classic and inspiration for Greta Gerwig's acclaimed feature film adaptation--come to be? This stunning biography explores the unique family and unusual circumstances of literary icon Louisa May Alcott.

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. How did these cherished characters come to be? Louisa May Alcott, the author of one of the most famous girl books of all time, was anything but a well-mannered young lady. A tomboy as well as a ravenous reader, Louisa took comfort in fictional characters that were as passionate and willful as she was--and whose wild imaginations were a match for her own. She was often found roaming the woods near her home in Concord, Massachusetts, or exploring the natural world in the company of the great Transcendentalist thinkers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Here is a beautiful portrait of Louisa May Alcott, a woman influenced by her father, a penniless philosopher, her mother, with whom she shared a great connection, and, of course, her three sisters. Featuring unique indigo illustrations, Deborah Noyes unveils how Louisa's natural spirit, loving family, and unconventional circumstances inspired the timeless masterpiece that is Little Women.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Historical, Biography Memoir, History

304 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Deb writes for adults and children and is also an editor and photographer. She lives in Massachusetts with her family.

Reviews

[Olivia Ransom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written book, I see myself in Louisa in many ways.

Back in the days, the titles from the trilogy from Little Women, Little Men and Jo's Boys, were anticipated with a fervor not seeing again until the Harry Potter series. A must-read.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: A Hopeful Heart: Louisa May Alcott Before Little Women

Author: Deborah Noyes

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Recommended For...: biography, little women

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

Genre: Biography

Recommended Age: 15+ (sexism mentioned)

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books

Pages: 304

Synopsis: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. How did these cherished characters come to be? Louisa May Alcott, the author of one of the most famous "girl" books of all time, was anything but a well-mannered young lady. A tomboy as well as a ravenous reader, Louisa took comfort in fictional characters that were as passionate and willful as she was--and whose wild imaginations were a match for her own. She was often found roaming the woods near her home in Concord, Massachusetts, or exploring the natural world in the company of the great Transcendentalist thinkers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Here is a beautiful portrait of Louisa May Alcott, a woman influenced by her father, a penniless philosopher, her mother, with whom she shared a great connection, and, of course, her three sisters. Featuring unique indigo illustrations, Deborah Noyes unveils how Louisa's natural spirit, loving family, and unconventional circumstances inspired the timeless masterpiece that is Little Women.

Review: For the most part this was a great biography novel. The book goes into Alcott's life before Little Women and I thought the story telling was compelling. I can see a lot of what I imagine Jo to be from Little Women and I'm even more excited to read Little Women one day. If you're into women who helped pioneer for women's rights today then this is the book for you.

Verdict: A great book on a great author.

[Melanie Eskew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louisa May Alcott wrote the most influential book in my life (other than the Bible). Jo March has always inspired me, and because Jo Is the fictional character of Louisa herself, reading about Louisa's life was like reading about a friend. I was so touched and inspired by Louisa's family and how they hid escaped slaves heading north to Canada. How they supported education for ALL, both women and African Americans. How Louisa became a nurse for the Union soldiers, almost died for the cause and how everyone in the New England states suffered! So much death for the freedom of men and women that should have been there all along! 😭❤️

I've also always been absolutely fascinated by the lives of writers so it was amazing getting to hear her story and how in a time when women had so many disadvantages, she was the main breadwinner for her family. And how she became one of the most famous children writers of the time! She was tender and motherly to the soldiers but yet she was a headstrong active woman who ran everyday, never married, never had children and worked harder than her Father ever did to support her family.

"In her, hardship fueled the fire of resilience. Her spirit and determination would see her through." 💪

[Sarah Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, the book itself is very well-crafted. The hardback cover underneath the jacket is simple and beautiful, with Alcott’s writing all over it. I also loved the pictures at the beginning of each chapter and the accents around the page numbers, all in blue! I am so happy I have added it to my collection.
This book is such a great companion to the 2019 adaptation of Little Women, which includes elements of Alcott’s life story that weren’t in the original text. I especially appreciated the details of Abby Alcott’s life, which is clearly reflected in Laura Dern’s Marmee. I learned a lot and felt so much love for Louisa. I loved her determination, intelligence, humor, and loyalty. I felt like I knew Alcott at the end. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Little Women or Alcott’s other work.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a hard read. Louisa May Alcott led an interesting life but it was full of poverty and struggle. Transcendentalist admirer of Whitman and Thoreau aside, her family suffered for her father's beliefs. She spent her life writing for money to keep her family above water. Emerson also helped stabilize them. When her younger sister died, Louisa realized that she was going to be the one to care for her parents, including their debts. Little Women finds the joy in this, but possibly more than Louisa found in real life?

[Connie D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating details of the Alcott family life, based on letters, journals, etc.

I would recommend this to adults rather than only for children, as categorized in our library... not all children would be so interested in parental relationships, details of poverty, housing moves, and jobs, etc. On the other hand, many children may relate to the poor conditions they lived in. They'll also enjoy reading about Lou's wild activities.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading and learning more about the author of my favorite classic book. I didn’t realize how much “Jo” and the other March girls were a reflection of herself and her sisters. This book used many quotes from Louisa’s personal writings and those of her family, so it gave me a glimpse of who she was from both her own words and the research done by the author.

[Vonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Louisa May Alcott and her family. I had no idea how eccentric and politically forward thinking they all were for the times.

Louisa’s father, Bronson, was impetuous and a dreamer who’s life was oft marked by depressive episodes. He believed in unconventional educational methods and attempted to run several schools throughout his lifetime. The most successful of which only lasted about 6 or so years. He followed his strange ideas, regardless of others’ opinions, much to his detriment. When he put his unusual ideas into practice, and they failed, he would be despondent for a time. And for some reason, he never really found success.

Louisa’s mother, Abby, was a head strong hard worker. She spent much of her life confounded by her husbands moods and general inability to provide for the family, often taking up a job or two to put some food on the table. In her later years, she became quite a social activist, helping the poor, advocating for their needs and even giving them the clothes off her own back when she herself had very little to give. The family was even known to hide escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad.

But while they struggled over the years, they did surround themselves with creativity, learning opportunities and literature. Bronson was friends with several literary greats of the time including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Louisa grew up listening and to and admiring these men.

Having grown up poor her entire life, Louisa determined to change her family’s circumstances. She began writing stories in her teens and over time, after learning the ins and outs of what people enjoyed reading and what publishers were looking for, she found some success.

Knowing very little of the Alcotts, I enjoyed reading about Louisa’s vibrant personality and her eccentric parents. If you enjoy reading the real life stories of other literary leading ladies, such as the Brontes, you will find this a satisfying read.

I received an electronic ARC copy from the publisher and net galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Yael]

DNFed at page 116

Nothing wrong with it, just wasn't what I was expecting. The writing is about 50% quotes from various journals and letters that the family (and others) wrote. It's not something I'm interested in.

[Benji Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good and informative biography. I don't know if it's any better or even different from other Alcott biographies that I've read, but it's a good read.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, how I loved Louisa May Alcott's Little Women when I was growing up! Honestly, I've lost count of the number of times I read that book and sobbed, laughed, and felt my heart crack in two, each time hoping that this time the ending would turn out a little bit different. My friends won't be surprised that I connected most strongly with Jo, who was the writer of the family and who had the best intentions even though things didn't always turn out the way she planned. Thus, because of my remembered fondness for that classic, I was delighted to find this book in my package of books that arrived at my house. In this accessible and addictive biography, Deborah Noyes approaches Alcott differently than others have. Instead of covering the years after she has achieved fame with Little Women in 1868, the author focuses on her formative years as she and her three sisters moved from place to place with their parents. Theirs was a life filled with great richness in many ways but also with great poverty as Bronson Alcott, the family patriarch, found it hard to keep a job due to some of his radical thoughts on education and philosophy. These lacks and his whims about what was appropriate to eat as well as his various experiments with farming and child rearing caused problems for the family. Often, the Alcotts had to depend on relatives and friends for money, food, and clothing. Still, Louisa grew up rubbing elbows with Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the other Transcendentalists of the time. Being economically poor and somehow beholden to others took a toll on Louisa, who was determined to become financially independent. She did so through her writing, and long before Little Women made it into print, she had written poems, letters, essays, under her own byline, and somewhat racy novels, those under a pseudonym, since their subject matter would have been deemed inappropriate for a single woman of her class. Noyes describes how hard she worked when she wrote as well as Alcott's struggles to be an obedient child when she was young. In examining Noyes' account of Louisa's upbringing and noting her use of Alcott's own letters and diaries, bits of which are woven deftly into the narrative, it is possible to feel as though readers know Louisa and what motivated her as well as how she crafted her stories and her characters. It's abundantly clear that Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy were modeled after Louisa and her beloved sisters, making the fictional characters seem just as real as possible. Her devotion to her mother is shown through the depiction of Marmee in Little Women, of course. In so many ways Alcott was a woman of her time but also before her time, and the success of her book makes it clear that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best and the most lasting. Fans of Alcott will want to read this essential volume that ends with the publication of her most famous work. An epilogue covers the death of her father and Louisa's own demise, leaving readers to wonder if the author will return with a second volume that covers those later, more successful years. As I finished the book, I thought a great deal about the burden of needing to be the economic support for one's family and how Louisa seemed not to feel any pressure to marry, which surely was rare for those days. Noyes' book offers insight into this extraordinary but very imperfect woman who enjoyed acting and writing but avoided teaching as more than a temporary job. I loved every word in this biography.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

*A Hopeful Heart* is one of several recent YA biographies to take a partial look at Louisa May Alcott's life (Samantha Seiple's 2019 biography *Louisa on the Front Lines*, recounts Alcott's experiences during the Civil War). This biography concentrates on Alcott's life before the publication of *Little Women.* Lacking in analytical framework to explain the rational, intentions, and purpose of this specific end point (rather than a full life biography or another milestone in Alcott's life), the reader can only surmise that this biography aspires to an affinity with a young reader audience, who are in the process of shaping their own identities and life paths; however this point is never established.

This biography is a synthesis of previous biographical studies and reads like a narrative summary of Alcott's life, without any implicit arguments. In this regard, however, it is an admirably sensitive and relatively well-balanced account. The narrative is easy-to-read, and the volume if beautifully illustrated with thoughtfully selected photographs, paired with evocative epigraphs, prefacing each chapter. The cover and dust jacket designs are likewise admirable.

Speaking to the synthetic nature of Noyes' work, it is not uncommon in such a prolific field for the author to heavily relies on the work of other biographers. Indeed, the majority of the primary source quotations used are cited from the secondary works by other scholars rather than from manuscript archives. This in and of itself is neither a flaw nor a criticism. However, it may have resulted in the smattering of factual errors and misstatements that are repeated throughout the text, and which point to a seeming lack of personal familiarity in the circumstances and relationships in Alcott's life gained through immersive and in-depth research. Since the notes only document quotation sources, Noyes' questionable claims can not be sourced and verified.

Also problematic is Noyes' frequent use of quotations from Alcott's fiction as testimony to particular life experiences, without acknowledging in the text how Noyes is using this material; if the reader did not look at the notes, they could easily assume that the quotation was drawn from a diary, letter, or personal memoir rather than an imaginative interpretation. This demonstrates an overreliance on the autobiographical authenticity of Alcott's writing. Such quotations are problematic, because they are not literal representations of what Alcott thought or experienced at formative periods of her life, but imaginative creations that may or may not have been inspired by the life event, and which had their own literary purposes. This is not to say that the biographer can not rightly use such literary evidence as a sources of biographical interpretation, but it should be made apparent to the reader that the evidence is drawn from a fictional story.

Overall, this is a highly readable contribution to the YA market of Alcott scholarship, offering a well-balanced narrative of Alcott's life before her greatest literary success.

[Lorraine Tosiello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book that specifically looks at the life of Louisa May Alcott before her fame as the author of "Little Women." It's written for the YA audience and the clarity of style and linear attention to the internal life of the child, adolescent and young adult Louisa is its great achievement. Though there is no new scholarship here for those who are immersed in Louisa May Alcott reading (as I am am!) it still packed an emotional punch for me.

Rather than explore the philosophical, political, social and educational issues of the time, as so many thorough biographies of Alcott necessarily must, it pared the biographical events down to those that directly impacted immediately on the young Louisa. Because of this, I was able to appreciate the full effect of the Alcott's financial poverty at the same time as admiring the intellectual and spiritual enrichment of her circumstances, in a way I had not fully experienced before. At times, the wording was brutally clear, especially the period of the Alcott's lives (late 1840's to mid 1850's) when they returned, dejectedly to Boston, after a brief shining interlude in Concord. Noyes writes : " For the next decade, they would be on the move nonstop, living in dreary provisional homes in struggling neighborhoods" and quotes Louisa's journal "poor as rats & apparently quite forgotten by everyone but the Lord." Unfortunately, Louisa added at a later time, "...heaven's so far away in the city, and I so heavy I can't fly up to find it." This from a burdened and sad and hungry sixteen year old! I liked, too that Noyes presents the circumstances and spends little time in psychological analysis of the effect of the events on Louisa, she just goes ahead and shows how her determined and energetic attitude toward work, her attention to the real life circumstances of her family and her need to provide for their physical needs (and pay their debts) drove her forward.

The Alcott's are an amazing family, and Louisa went on to achieve more than just her masterpiece "Little Women." This is a clear and heartfelt introduction to the struggles and joys of the young woman who wrote herself into the magnificent character of "Jo March."

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Women is one of my favorite books, and I was aware that it was semi-autobiographical of Louisa May Alcott's life, but after reading this book, it is crazy to see all the similarities. It would seem that Little Women was a softened version of her life, however; the Alcotts were always on the edge of poverty, and Louisa had moved some thirty times or more by the time she was in her mid-twenties. Her father was a philosopher who put ideals above his family and wouldn't take money even for work that he did do. He had progressive notions about education stemming from Rousseau (basically that children are inherently good and just need someone to ignite the passion inside of them) that were bad ideas then just as they are now (except now almost everyone agrees with him). Even with my grumpiness on this topic, Louisa can still make me chuckles with this description quoted in the book about her father's educational philosophy: "My father taught in the wise way which unfolds what lies in the child's nature, as a flower blooms, rather than crammed it, like a Strasbourg goose, with more than it could digest."

While the Alcotts were Christians in name (and many of the virtues and good works they engaged in, such as their abolitionary work, were indeed exemplary), it seems clear that they followed a salvation by good works. Louisa has this constant struggle (and is told by her father) to "be good" her whole life, and there is no sense of relief at the idea of righteousness that is already won by Christ on her behalf. I couldn't help but feel for her. She also has this longing her whole life for security, and especially to see her Mother at rest from the toils of keeping the family afloat. I wish the book had a gone a little longer - it ends pretty much right after the success Louisa experiences with publishing Little Women. I wish I could have seen more of Louisa's reaction to the fulfillment of all her dreams.

A very engaging read, if a bit depressing. It gave me lots of good food for thought.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Welp, that was short lived. I didn't have a classic to read and now I do-- Little Women-- though I know I read it long, long ago, it was at a time that it likely wasn't as impactful and because I remember more about the Winona Ryder movie version than remembering the actual book. On to the list it goes.

And now Noyes gives readers a full portrait of Alcott's life BEFORE Little Women and her very young death, that I understand so much more about the book and life for the family. Her father was an intellectual that started and stopped many pursuits but never toiled in hard labor which left their family destitute. Moving dozens of times in Louisa's lifetime. And he worked his wife, Abby, to the bone. She often remarked of it as the woman's yoke to bear. And then there were the three girls and Louisa being the tomboy running around the fields and getting into fiery conflicts with her strong-willed willfulness. It was a fully-rounded portrait of her entire life that read easily enough and pulled quite a bit from the letters that give us the glimpses into this time.

Particularly my favorite thing to read about: the salons! I long for these intellectually stimulating conversations to come back into fashion for a smart population willing to listen and talk and respect opinions and bring lively debate in a positive way:

"Not quite a lecture and not quite an open discussion, nineteenth-century conversations were guided forums held at an athenaeum (a cultural assembly hall or library) or in the parlor of a leading citizen. Led by a scholar- usually a man, though Margaret Fuller's sessions were extremely popular- these conversations focused on a theme such as civil disobedience or free will. The discussions were often hosted as a series and paid for by subscription, and were a night on the town for intellectuals."

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun because the assumption has always been that Little Women was almost autobiographical, so reading about Louisa's actual childhood both challenged and sometimes affirmed this. The four girls do seem rather modeled on Louisa's family, but she traded off some of their experiences and extrapolated from others. So Laurie was inserted after being assembled from some childhood (lifelong) friends and some other guys she met along the way, and the time frame was shoved around, and the parents' edges smoothed out so that they could be the paragons who appear on the page.

Louisa herself was the one who went off to serve in the Civil War, and who came home with her health destroyed. She was also the one who went off on a European vacation as a companion. And, of course, the crazy bits where her dad kept founding communes and running himself into debt is gone; instead there is only a nebulous ruin where the family lost all their money; in real life that happened pretty much when her parents got married as the dad was fairly useless in a money way.

I do like how it completely vindicates all of us who agree that Jo doesn't have to marry Laurie.

There's careful sourcing of the letters and other documents, a good bibliography, and nice details about the old pictures used to start off each chapter. It's a fun book, but I think it's more for Alcott fans than a way to lure in new fans.

[Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Little Women and I know that the author was inspired by her childhood, so I had been looking for a biography about her for a long time.

Louisa May Alcott grew up in an unconventional family, her father was a teacher and writer with modern ideas, interested in analyzing children's behavior and in social causes. Louisa and her sisters grew up surrounded by books, they were encouraged to play and be curious, but they were poor, which made her work in different fields since she was a child, although her passion has always been writing; she started with poems, short stories, thrillers and dramas for magazines and novels with social criticism but under a pseudonym.

This biography covers her childhood until the publication of Little Women when she was 35 years old, although right now that is her best-known work, at her time, she was already a public figure. I did notice a lot of the author's personality in Jo and would love to read more of the author's stories.

I liked the domestic aspect. There is a lot of focus on her family, which shows that it is an important part of the author and that she was close to her parents and sisters, also the artistic environment with revolutionary ideas influenced her as a person.

The writing style is perfect for young adults or people just getting started with biographies, is a quick read, is easy to follow, and looks well documented.

Read it if:
You like Little Women
Want to read about an amazing woman
Enjoy biographies

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well written. One story about Louisa that I was so impressed with told about when she was serving as a nurse in 1861 in Washington D.C. during the Civil war and helping a terminally wounded 28 year old soldier, John Suhre, who was previously a blacksmith. She was told to tell him that his case was terminal. She stated that when this stoic man started to tear up, “my heart opened wide and I took him in, as gathering the big head in my arms as freely as if he had been a little child. I said, “Let me help you bear it John.” “Never on ant human countenance have I seen so swift & beautiful a look of gratitude, surprise & comfort. “Thank you ma’am this is good!”
After he died, a letter was given to her from John’s mother. She took the time to send her a clipping of John’s hair, the ring he wore and a letter of sympathy. From page 209.

[Rachel Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up reading LMA’s books, but knew very little about her life. This middle-grade biography focuses mostly on her life prior to writing and publishing Little Women and did a great job pulling from her stories, letters, and diaries in order to tell her story. There was so much I didn’t know about LMA such as her family’s “genteel poverty,” her parents’ social activism, her father’s idealistic approach to life that meant his family often suffered because of his ideals, and the literary giants that she lived (and died) among such as Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Emerson. This is not a short read, but it felt like an easy and enjoyable one.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was entirely torn on whether I should devour this book quickly or marinate in it a bit and thoroughly enjoy it. Alas, the former won out, but I still relished each page. I have always been a big fan of Louisa and enjoyed learning about her life. I was fascinated to find how close her family was with other contemporaries, such as Emerson and Thoreau. I was also ticked to learn of her schoolgirl crush to the formerly mentioned, which makes Jo's choice make so much sense. All in all, a fantastic biography that is written in a very approachable and engaging narrative.

[Jan Hobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much about Louisa May Alcott that I never knew. It was a good book, I will not say it was a great book. It didn’t hold my attention the way some books to do, which is why I am not giving it five stars. It seemed a little old-fashioned in the way it was written, but I suppose, given the subject, that was natural.

I do recommend it for fans of her books.

[Ariella O’Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book for Christmas and started it immediately! I love all of Louisa May Alcotts books so much so I wanted a biography. It was really well written and now I’m moving on to reading books by Louisa May Alcott friends Henry David Thorough and others. I’ve read every Louisa May Alcott book in the library so I’m moving on to Walden (By Henry David Thorough)

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably solid juvenile biography of Louisa May Alcott. I think, perhaps, I would have appreciated it more if I didn't read it immediately following Eden's Exiles, a much more thorough and thoughtful biography of Louisa and her father.

But, for the young Little Women lover who wants to know more about Miss Alcott, this one will do nicely.

[Judy E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read several biographies about Louisa May Alcott, I highly recommend this brisk yet thoughtful examination of a beloved American author. However, there were no photographs, and I always want them in biographies!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually get bogged down in biographies and find them boring. This one was so engaging I had trouble putting it down. It could be because it was written as juvenile non-fiction- though if I hadn't read it on the dust jacket, I'd never have known.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written. I loved the realistc and fascinating story of Louisa's life. Even if she hadn't been a writter she lived through and interesting time and met a lot of interesting characters. The author did a good job bringing that era back to life.

[Johanna Jaworski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice, simply read of Louisa May's early life. I especially enjoyed the retelling of my favorite LMA, her trip to Europe. I would have liked more details and the jump at the end to her death felt abrupt but not too bad. It was interesting to read of her many moves.

[Steffani Morrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading the history of Louisa! I first read my mom's childhood copy of Little Women when I was about 7 and it instantly became a favorite. Seeing the story of her parents, her sisters, and so many amazing authors who she called friends really made me love her even more.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look into Alcott’s growing-up years.

[Sandy Sopko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography, nonfiction narrative, for young readers!