Description: Since its publication on September 30, 1868, Little Women has been one of America's favorite stories. While we now think of it as a girls' book, it was initially read by both boys and girls, men and women of all ages. Professor Anne Boyd Rioux, who read it in her twenties, tells us how Louisa May Alcott came to write the book and drew inspiration for her story from her own life. Its Civil War-era tale of family and community ties resonated through later wars, the Depression, and times of changing opportunities for women, even into the twenty-first century. Rioux sees the novel's beating heart in its honest look at adolescence and its inspiring vision of young women's resilience and hope. In gauging its reception today, she shows why it remains a book with such power that people carry its characters and spirit throughout their lives.
Brief description: Anne Boyd Rioux, professor at the University of New Orleans, author of Constance Fenimore Woolson: Portrait of a Lady Novelist, and editor of Miss Grief and Other Stories, has received two National Endowment for the Humanities Awards, one for public scholarship. She lives in New Orleans.
Review Quotes:
"Lovers of that book will adore this book. But even those who haven't read Little Women will enjoy learning about the literary history behind it."
-- " Christian Science Monitor"