Uma Cinderela Moderna (Coleção Duetos)

by Louisa May Alcott, Sheila Koerich (Translator)

A Modern Cinderella is a collection of four short stories by Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women. Like her more famous novels, Alcott tells stories of young women interacting with people and events from the late 1800s. A great addition to the Alcott library of stories.

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Romance, Fairy Tales, 19th Century, Retellings

102 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1860

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

[Sanja_Sanjalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a true Alcott fashion, these stories instruct as well as entertain in all their charm and naivity you would expect from the author. A great book to relax your soul a bit.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 4 short stories. Once you get past the overly ornate language and sentence structure, you are left with 4 emotional stories about young people.

A Modern Cinderella
Three sisters live with their father (very reminiscent of Little Women). One sister takes care of
their home and family, while the others pursue their interests. Theirs is a very happy family,
until their father dies and decisions must be made about their future.
(For me, this was the weakest story in the collection. I really wish it had not been the first story,
because I almost didn't finish reading the book. The language was overly intricate and the prose
so tangled, that it was almost impossible to follow the story.)

Debby's Debut
Debby goes for an extended vacation with her aunt who is trying to introduce her into society.
She meets 2 young men. Her aunt approves of one and keeps pushing her Debby in that direction,
but Debby finds she also likes the second one and has to make a great choice.

The Brothers
Set during the Civil War, two brothers are hospitalized in the same home. The young nurse, tries
to protect one brother from the other as she learns their truly tragic history. This story stands as
a strong indictment of slavery and highlights the insensitivity within families.

Nelly's Hospital
Also set during the Civil War, young Nelly decides she wants to become a nurse and opens an
animal hospital with the help of her family, esp her wounded brother.

(Duke Classics)

[Cathyc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing old disgracefully and criminally!

[Bonnie]

I have my great grandmother's copy from 1904 - purchased for my grandmother for her 2nd birthday.
The copy I have has only the titled story, so this is a review of the one story only.

This 'Modern Cinderella' has no evil step-family in it and the eldest sister is merely a cinderella of circumstance; 3 sisters living with their father. It's a cute story of 3 sisters of differing personalities and how they grow into caring young women because of the self sacrifice of the eldest sister.

It has the storyline of 2 teenage girls who take full advantage of their elder sister, Nan, but without the meanness of the fairytale version. When Nan becomes bedridden from exhaustion the younger sisters are forced to do the required work of the household and come to understand how much their sister has done for them with no thought of herself; they also come to realize what is required of themselves to become the head of a household in the near future.

I love how Miss Alcott brings in a shoe and a pretend prince to round out the Cinderella aspect.

A coming of age story set in the early 1900's - much different from a modern day storyline of the same type.

[Prex Ybasco · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book, don't get me wrong and Alcott still managed to capture my heart with her literary wit. Is it as memorable as Little Women , or Jo's Boys ? No. The stories in the book reminded me of the characters in the aforementioned texts but that was it. Perhaps it was because there were a number of stories compiled in one book, but those didn't move me nor care about the characters as much as when the kids and the teachers were together. All I realized was to be a Modern Cinderella, one has to be as loyal and hardworking as Nan, as bright and witty as Debbie, and as caring and pure as Nelly.

I also have to admit that Dora's story was cute.

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely

I've read this before, but it's still a delight. Louisa May Alcott is a writer of her era, but I prefer the old-fashioned style and lessons laid out. A Modern Cinderella is such a sweet story, and I loved reading the rest of the stories.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 2 out of 5]

I arranged my thoughts on this short story into a haiku:

"The work we do shows
How far along we have come,
More than our hobbies."

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For anyone who isn’t in the know, Little Women was autobiographical. This story as well leaped out at me immediately as being based on the characters Louisa May Alcott knew and loved best: her own family.
Anna May Alcott =Meg in Little Women =Nan in “A modern Cinderella”
Anna married John Bridge Pratt =John Brooke in Little Women = John in this story
Louisa May Alcott = Jo in Little Women = Diana in this story
May Alcott = Amy in Little Women =Laura in this story
Bronson Alcott = absent father in Little Women = father who immediately leaves in this book (Bronson Alcott spent at least half of every year away from his family, which was actually for the best; read a biography such as “Marmee and Louisa” to learn why)

I think this story may have been written after Elizabeth May Alcott’s death (Beth in Little Women) as I don’t see a Beth character in the story. The family was always dirt poor until Little Women started a lucrative writing career for Louisa (because Bronson couldn’t be bothered to support his family, but I digress) and they never had any domestic help, so I think the maid was just a fictional invention to help explain why this seemingly middle class fictional family was doing all their domestic chores themselves. (Louisa May Alcott invented a servant, Hannah, in Little Women as well, which the family never had.)

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alcott could wax moral with the best of them. Unlike the gothic melodramas of her youth or Little Women, reading these short stories felt like I was being preached to. A Modern Cinderella: Be meek and kind and get the guy.
Debby’s Debut, I liked, but honestly can’t remember most of. Moral: be true to yourself and without pretense and have a rich aunt willing to help you ... and you too can marry a poor man you love instead of the rich fop your aunt wanted you to pick. But you will change rich fop’s life!
Brothers: thanks to Mercy Street (dang you PBS for canceling it), I knew what a contraband was. But this story was awkward to read. A tale of a Union nurse caring for an unnamed revel soldier dying. Helping her is a contraband slave named Bob. The narrator describes Bob and... it feels like it was written by a white, female abolitionist. It was awkward. With a bit of the white savior trope thrown in. But it also references the film Glory!
Nelly’s Hospital: cute story about a girl who starts a hospital for birds and bugs to help with the war. Helps cure her brother of PTSD.

[Star Forbis · Rating 4 out of 5]

To and fro she went, silent and diligent, giving the grace of willingness to every humble or distasteful task the day had brought her.

The ocean wrought the change, for it took old and young into its arms, and for a little while they played like children in their mother's lap. No falsehood could withstand its rough sincerity: for the wanes washed paint and powder from worn faces and left a fresh bloom there. Not ailment could entirely resist its vigorous cure; for every wind brought healing on its wings, endowing many a meagre life with another year of health.

Pray, restrain your lively tongue, for strangers may not understand that it is nothing but the sprightliness of your disposition which sometimes runs away with you.

don't freeze me yet, don't take away my faith in simple things, but let me be a child a little longer, let me play and sing and keep my spirit blithe amount the dandelions and the robins while I can: for trouble comes soon enough, and all my life will be the richer and the better for a happy youth.

[Caity · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Modern Cinderella is such a sweet story. I really loved the characters particularly Nan. It's a really cute twist on Cinderella's story. Debby's Debut had some wonderfully funny moments and I loved Debby's sense of humor. It's my favorite story of the four. The Brothers is offensive by modern standards but interesting for the time it was written ans perspective on the Civil War. It's a very tragic tale. Nelly's Hospital is a cute story of a little girl who sets up her own hospital for the wounded creatures she finds inspired by her brother's stay in a military hospital. It's a sweet way to end this collection of stories.

[Victoria Readman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Louisa May Alcott usually I cannot fault, but this collection of short stories is not for me. I’ve never struggled so much to understand text, I couldn’t get through them all. It’s close to a ‘DNF’ for me. It’s been a while since I read this style of literary text so perhaps I’m rusty.

Debby’s Debut - “You’ll be at the hop to-night, I hope Miss Wilder,” he observed, introducing a topic suited to a young lady’s mental capacity”
Alcott captures the time in which these stories were written but for me this left a bitter taste in my mouth. I’ll stick to Little Women.

[Allan67 · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that I tried to read to Diana. We can't do much anymore after her stroke, so I read to her to spend time together. Diana has always loved to have someone to read to her - and I like to do just that.

This book is a collection of four short stories by Louisa May Alcott. We enjoyed Little Women, Little Men and other Alcott books, however neither of us could get interested in the stories in this book. Others rate it highly, so the problem is apparently us and our interests.

[Chrisanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I only read the title story.

Alcott's other personalities seep into this one. You can't read about Di, Nan, and Laura without imposing characteristics from Little Women, Eight Cousins, and An Old-fashioned Girl. It isn't literature, makes you think of Jo's(aka LMA's) newspaper stories that put bread on the table. But no one does engagements better than Louisa, Lucy Maud Montgomery, and Jane Austen--at least in my opinion.

[Jacqueline Bento · Rating 4 out of 5]

É um reconto bem diferente de Cinderela, tem parágrafos muito bonitos, mas também tem parágrafos muito confusos. Às vezes a gente se perde porque as falas dos personagens e as cenas trocam muito, quando você percebe já é outra cena ou outra pessoa falando sem que o assunto anterior tivesse terminado. Enfim, se não fosse por alguns parágrafos maravilhosamente escritos aqui ou ali não valeria muito a pena.

[amaaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first i didn't plan to finish this book since it didn't leave a super great impression on me. But it's heartwarming enough, so i continued reading this on my spare time.

But it's honestly nice to read 'cinderella's stories' from some different point of views and also different characters.

[Sara Elliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una lettura che mi rimarrà nel cuore. Un libro brevissimo che mi ha fatta emozionare. La trama è una sorta di miscuglio tra piccole donne e Cenerentola quindi molto delicato, anche se non manca una bella batosta e un po' di tensione

[Sophie Bowns · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay.

[Kathy Nealen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four short stories in Alcott’s usual veins, a little preachy but still pleasant, abolitionist and caring.

[Alice Monti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un gioiellino tradotto in modo incantevole.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stories. It’s clear how much the civil war loomed large in her life.

[Allison Wonderland Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

such sweet yet powerful little stories that warmed my soul and encouraged my heart.

[prathaaaaaaaa]

how, exactly, does one sound like a sarcastic unicorn

[Phil Syphe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The four stories in this collection differ greatly from one another in tone and subject matter.

The title story didn't appeal to me all that much, as the experimental style didn't suit my taste. At times I was quite confused as to what was happening.

The tale features three sisters who live with their father. The oldest sister takes on the role mother, doing most of the household chores, thus she is the modern Cinderella.

Her younger sisters are in their late teens and do little to help out until she suffers from exhaustion and becomes bedridden. The teens aren't in the wicked stepsister mould but that's who they represent - "idle sisters" would be more apt.

Two stars for this one.

"Nelly's Hospital" is a children's story. Because of this I was tempted to skip it, but I have such respect for Ms Alcott's writing abilities that I gave it a go. I enjoyed this more than the title story.

Nelly is a girl of, I assume, nine or ten. She has a friend called Tony who's twelve and I get the impression Nelly's a bit younger than him.

Anyway, after the girl's soldier brother is wounded, she is inspired to start her own hospital - for small animals and insects. She and Tony clear a space to house the 'patients' and the following day Nelly goes into the garden to find injured creatures.

Three stars for this tale.

"The Brothers" is the most serious story of the four.

A lady who's previously had the pox agrees to look after an injured rebel soldier, aided by a man recently released from slavery (his mother was black; his father white). Can't say much more without giving the plot away, but it's quite a sombre tale.

Three stars for this.

In contrast, "Debby's Debut" is a light-hearted story, featuring eighteen-year-old Debby - aka Dora - on holiday and under her aunt's wing. Her aunt is the epitome of Victorian prudery, fussing all the time about appearances, and is careful with whom her niece should or should not keep company with.

Debby, although respectful of her aunt's ideals, has a mind of her own. She's not rebellious but she is an independent thinker, good-natured, and cares little if her hair is out of place when she's having fun. Nor does it bother her to be seen having bread and milk to eat in public - this is an embarrassment as far as the pedantic aunt is concerned.

Two men fall in love with Debby, adding further interest to the tale.

So four stars for this enjoyable story with its humour and romantic interludes.

[Trudy Pomerantz · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were four short stories included in this ebook which was available for free on iTunes. They were the title story, A Modern Cinderella, Debby's Debut, The Brothers, and Nelly's Hospital. Louisa May Alcott always wrote very refreshing, moral stories. It always appeared though that reformation was within everybody's grasp as long as they made the right rules and did the right thing. Having said that, she writes charming stories that are thought-provoking and worth reading.

"Di, my father began the world as I begin it, and left it the richer for the useful years he spent here, -- as I hope I may leave it some half-century hence. His memory makes that dingy shop a pleasant palce to me; for there he made an honest name, led an honest life and bequeathed to me his reverence for honest work. That is a sort of hardware, Di, that no rust can corrupt, and which will always prove a better fortune than any your knights can achieve with sword and shield."

"You and Nan have known each other all your lives; yet, till this last visit, you never thought you loved her more than any other childish friend. It is too soon to say the words so often spoken hastily, -- so hard to be recalled."

"Then remembering that these womanly attributes were a bride's best dowry, Laura gave herself to their attainment, that she might become to another household the blessing Nan had been to her own; and turning from the worship of the goddess Beauty, she gave her hand to that humbler and more human teacher, Duty, -- learning her lessons with a willing heart, for Philip's sake."

[Ellisnoblebooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louisa May Alcott aveva la capacità invidiabile di scrivere senza troppi fronzoli e risultare incredibilmente diretta. Ok, forse un po' pesante coi suoi richiami alla morale e alla condotta corretta per i gusti moderni, ma ne vale la pena recuperare le sue altre opere oltre alle famose 'Piccole donne'.
Di questa serie di racconti il mio preferito è senz'altro 'Il debutto di Debby', la storia di una ragazza genuina portata in una località balneare dalla ricca zia sperando che possa elevarsi e fare un buon matrimonio. Mi è piaciuta questa trama tipicamente austeniana in ambiente però americano e il personaggio di Debby che per quanto cerchi di rimanere sé stessa nonostante l'etichetta la vorrebbe più contenuta, finisce per rischiare di perdere una grande occasione per l'influenza che questa esercita comunque su di lei. Tenero anche 'L'ospedale di Nelly', dove una bambina decide di creare una piccola clinica veterinaria per far pratica come infermiera durante la guerra di secessione, mentre gli altri due racconti li ho trovati meno riusciti. 'I fratelli' mi ha dato l'impressione che la protagonista, un'infermiera riesce a evitare che lo scontro tra due fratelli, uno bianco e l'altro nero, possa portare a conseguenze nefaste, fosse un po' troppo una white saviour, mentre 'Una Cenerentola moderna' era una riscrittura della celebre fiaba un po' troppo priva di conflitto.
Tuttavia, queste sono le mie impressioni: recuperate tutto quello che potete di Louisa May Alcott perché ne vale la pena scoprire la sua produzione.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This contains four short stories:

A Modern Cinderella

Wow. So inventive! I loved the idea that the 'wicked stepsisters' are really just two very preoccupied older sisters. That Nan doesn't mind the housework. I love John and the promise he made to his mother. I liked the inventiveness of Cinderella's losing her shoe. Lovely.

Debby's Debut

Poor Debby. Taken out of her element and then falling in love and then going silly. I liked this story, if only because Frank Evan is such a darling. I loved the race. And the apology, for that matter.

Brothers

I can't imagine the hatred here. This is always a hard subject— slavery, half-breeds, racism… but still. I respect Robert for not having done what he wanted to do, but I didn't like the ending.

Nelly's Hospital

Sweet story of a little girl who creates a hospital for animals when her brother comes home from war with a busted leg. Very sweet.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is hard to give an accurate rating as there are 4 separate and unique stores put together into one book.
The first story is quite sweet and charming. Rather cliche, but cute. The second story is more interesting, character-wise. I found the almost ending to be a little annoying as the girl nearly ruins her "happily-ever-after." The third story was awful in every way. I had a hard time getting through it and the ending was so sad. The random change in direction from light romance tales to a very dark story dealing with racism, slavery, abuse, and hatred was quite startling. I don't know who thought to put these stories together. The last story was very sweet, though entirely unbelievable.
The third story definitely brought the rating down, but the other 3 stories were not very memorable either. Cute, but not much substance or reality.

[Ellen Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Modern Cinderella
A beautiful but predictable story. I wish it was more fleshed out, with more details of Nan and John, and perhaps Laura's wedding. John is my favourite character, especially when he was in the kitchen.

Debby's Debut
This is my favourite story in the book. I like Debby very much, and Frank Evans is a gentleman in every aspect. I think their story is very romantic, and I am especially pleased that Debby did not lose her ideals during the eight weeks she spent with her Aunt.

Brothers
I didn't like this story very much. It lacked charm, and at its core, it was not a very pleasant story.

Nelly's Hospital
This was a sweet story with an important lesson gently woven into it. I liked it, and again, I wish there were more details. I can only guess that Nelly becomes a nurse when she grows up.

[Rida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful book, it showed the innocence many of us no longer see in modern books. Though I am still quite young, the characters' mature appearances were very much to my taste. The stories were simple in a quick read, but one realizes that these shorts had a much greater meaning once pondered upon. There was humor in the right areas and somber moments in others. All in all, a very enjoyable read, I would recommend this to anyone who loves a little bit of history and literature mixed into one.