From Blood & Thunder to Hearth and Home
by Madeleine B. Stern
Collection of Madeleine Stern's essays and lots of Alcott's letters, written from 1943 to 1995. The story of the fascinating discover of Alcott's A.M. Barnard pseudonym is here, along with a more sympathetic view of how she came to be known as "The Children's Friend" author. The biography of Alcott that I read gave me the mistaken view that after many frustrations making a living as a serious writer, she came to write a Girls' book as an unwilling favor to a publisher. Not true at all.
The only essay I didn't enjoy wholeheartedly was the one where she attempted to link certain episodes in Alcott's career to passages in her children's books. Her acting episodes in the early years, yes--almost every book had an amateur play or wannabe actress. But I don't think it's fair to imply that direct quotes from her books had a direct parallel in her own life.
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