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| The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott |
A richly imagined, remarkably written story of the woman who created Little Women- and how love changed her in ways she never expected.
Deftly mixing fact and fiction, Kelly O'Connor McNees returns to the summer of 1855, when vivacious Louisa May Alcott is twenty-two and bursting to free herself from family and societal constraints and do what she loves most. Stuck in small-town New Hampshire, she meets Joseph Singer, and as she opens her heart, Louisa finds herself torn between a love that takes her by surprise and her dream of independence as a writer in Boston. The choice she must make comes with a steep price that she will pay for the rest of her life.
Amy says:
"Initially, I was afraid to read The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott because I knew it had the power to distort Little Women, a book that has ridden around in my heart since childhood. I loved the March sisters, especially Jo, and didn’t want to be told that she was nothing like Louisa May Alcott and had simply been made up; she was one of my heroes. But as I listened to McNees’ voice, keenly similar to Alcott’s herself with a soft, sprawling tone and insight woven deeply into her characters, I began to see Louisa May Alcott quite differently.
Deftly mixing fact and fiction, Kelly O'Connor McNees returns to the summer of 1855, when vivacious Louisa May Alcott is twenty-two and bursting to free herself from family and societal constraints and do what she loves most. Stuck in small-town New Hampshire, she meets Joseph Singer, and as she opens her heart, Louisa finds herself torn between a love that takes her by surprise and her dream of independence as a writer in Boston. The choice she must make comes with a steep price that she will pay for the rest of her life.
Amy says:
"Initially, I was afraid to read The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott because I knew it had the power to distort Little Women, a book that has ridden around in my heart since childhood. I loved the March sisters, especially Jo, and didn’t want to be told that she was nothing like Louisa May Alcott and had simply been made up; she was one of my heroes. But as I listened to McNees’ voice, keenly similar to Alcott’s herself with a soft, sprawling tone and insight woven deeply into her characters, I began to see Louisa May Alcott quite differently.
Alcott became fascinating, not because she wrote an endearing book, but because of her ideals, her decisions, and especially her unique place in history. A neighbor to both Thoreau and Emerson during her childhood, Alcott grew up virtually surrounded by transcendental thought, living out its sometimes impractical ideals in her own family. McNees captures the complexity and sorrow of Alcott’s life that she chose to leave out of Little Women.
However, it is easily the love story within The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott that brings it to life. Unlike so many modern romances, McNees’ characters are deeply committed to ideals outside of themselves. They have the ability to surprise, inspire, and challenge readers about the true definitions of love and freedom in a way that is often only seen in classics. I would highly recommend this book to all the old lovers of Little Women and to those who have not read Alcott…yet."
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