The Other Alcott

Elise Hooper's novel The Other Alcott (#747) is the fictionalized story of May Alcott, the real life sister of Louisa May Alcott, and the basis for the character of Amy in Little Women.  May turns out to be just as independent and successful in her own way as her more famous older sister, and the bones of her story as told here are mostly true.

Like Amy in Little Women, May did pursue a career in art at a time when it was not generally accepted to do so, traveling to Europe to study several times.  Her work appeared in the famous Paris Salons not once, but twice, and like her sister, she also authored a popular guide book for aspiring women artists abroad based on her own experiences.  Throughout her life, May and her more famous sister Louisa, struggled personally and professionally, often at odds with each other.  It makes for an interesting story.

Like Ms. Hooper, I grew up near Orchard House in Concord, where the Alcott family lived, and was fascinated by all things Alcott.  Growing up, I read and re-read all the Louisa May Alcott books I could get my hands on, although I have to admit Little Women was never my favorite; I preferred Rose in Bloom or Eight Cousins myself.  My father was equally taken by Bronson Alcott, Louisa and May's father, a Transcendentalist and experimental thinker/philosopher, so my family spent a good deal of time in Concord.  When a trove of Louisa May Alcott's sensational stories were discovered and published in Behind the Mask, I read those with relish as well.  It presented an entirely different picture of her, albeit one alluded to through her character of Jo March.  May's story illuminates yet another aspect of an American family we thought we knew well.