Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women (giveaway)

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women was just recently released in paperback by Picador and yes, I happily accepted a copy for review! With all the buzz around The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott earlier this summer, I felt like I wanted to start off learning more about Louisa May Alcott by reading a biography of her. (Yes, I still plan on reading The Lost Summer. I just haven't gotten to it yet. If you haven't heard of it, check out Judy's review of the title.)

It took longer for me to read through Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women than I originally planned on, but the reason for that was that I was lingering in this well-told biography. Harriet Reisen is a Louisa May Alcott fanatic and wanted to write a fair and accurate portrayal of this famous authoress. Reisen didn't feel other biographers were quite doing Alcott justice and so she purposed to leave no stone unturned when writing this particular work. I love both Reisen's passion and sensible writing. Even though I knew that she had a "thing" for Alcott and her stories, that bias didn't play through the read for which I was grateful. I felt like I was being presented with facts and given the freedom to form my own opinion of Alcott's life. (And yes, I did establish some pretty firm opinions on a number of issues!)

There were points in time during this read that I wondered if I would ever be interested in picking up an Alcott book ever again. I found her life to be depressing, mostly because of the way her father treated the family. Bronson Alcott was loved by his family, to be sure, but today we'd call him a "lazy bum" and he was that. He felt himself "too good" to work for money. He prided himself on his intellect (I'd argue about that too) and felt that others existed to support him and there was no need for him to "stoop" to physical labor to feed and cloth his family. Reisen makes no excuses for Bronson, but does suggest that he was mentally unstable. I would call the way he lived his life positively sinful and arrogant (or arrogantly sinful) and while I do believe he suffered from a depression (that was passed along to his daughter, Louisa!) I don't feel as if that is a good excuse. The man despised his family in thought, word and deed. I've no respect for him.

Louisa, as it turns out, felt her family's deficiencies keenly and when she was older she purposed to make as much money as she could to pay off family debts. Writing for her was more about money than pleasure. It's hard to imagine, perhaps, given some of her tales, but it is true.

Speaking of truth, there are a world of things I could say about this book. I found it to be utterly absorbing and I enjoyed every single page - even when Alcott philosophy was getting under my skin! In fact, I enjoyed this so thoroughly that when my eyes would start to wander and skim a paragraph, I'd discover that I had lost information and would have to back track. It's rare that a book contains so much information and lays the story out so very well that you find yourself riveted to each word but this is one such biography (at least for me!)

At the risk of this post being enormously long, and not getting to the part that I know you're waiting for, let me just say that if you are looking for a good biography to read on the life of Louisa May Alcott - this is the one!!

Now for the fun - Picador has graciously and generously offered a giveaway copy of Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women to one of you! Would you like to win? Simply leave a comment below (including a valid e-mail address)! This contest is open to U.S. Residents only and will be open through Tuesday, November 16th!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER, as selected by random.org, IS #11 - Amy! Congrats, Amy! I hope you enjoy it!

If you think this book sounds interesting, you'll be happy to know that there is a documentary of Louisa May Alcott which is based on this book. (I, for one, am now incredibly curious to see it!)

For you Facebook Fans (I am not one!) you might also want to check out the book's Facebook page.

Thank you, Picador, both for sending me a copy and for offering one to one of my readers!