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A review by aimeenicole_k
Scribbles, Sorrows, and Russet Leather Boots: The Life of Louisa May Alcott by Diana Sudyka, Liz Rosenberg
5.0
The moral of this story is that selfish and bad fathers have the full ability ruin a child's entire life.
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(Also that mercury poisoning is awful & that's a tragedy that could have been avoided for so many people).
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On the other hand, I admire Louisa more than I can say. Louisa led a good life, if a hard one, despite her father's terrible raising and selfish way. And there is much to learn from her selflessness, especially compared to the people who took advantage of it. You have to wonder what she deleted from her history when she edited her papers and letters before her death, and you have to wonder how her interactions with her family truly were, as we can never know how they actually responded to her generosity and care in the moment. Clearly there was love from both sides, but you can also see that Louisa so often put herself last that she may have been too self-deprecating to record any praise. Louisa May Alcott's endless commitments to her family and to the world around her went unrewarded by those she helped but there is no doubt she sacrificed and worked hard for them (and for total strangers in wartime and the poor and sick around her), the true marker of love.
Little Women has always been a favorite, and the author someone I loved, but I never knew that much about her. With my trip to Boston coming up (and a visit to Orchard House) I wanted to finally read this out of my TBR. This was a great read! It feels nothing like a Juvenile biography, is in depth and well researched it seems to me. The writing doesn't condescend & she doesn't shy away from the hardest parts of Louisa's life. While many complaints I've seen in reviews say that the beginning focuses too much on her parents, I have to say two things: 1. You can't truly know a person without knowing her parents. This is all the more true for Louisa as Bronson Alcott, who seems so unsuccessful to me from this reading, even managed to overshadow her own DEATH. His idealism made him selfish and lazy when his family needed him most and this is what shaped Louisa's entire life and philosophy. 2.The beginning was incredibly interesting. It didn't feel dense with unimportant details. Louisa was the focus even when telling her parents story.
The end of this story was the saddest. I truly hoped to find out that, at the very least, she would have her family around her as she died. But no, Bronson, one last time, stole the show. Shame on the reporters of her death as well. Louisa was the true success in her family and it says much that I read Little Women and knew of Louisa, admiring her work, for years before I even heard Bronson's name. No longer is she "Bronson Alcott's Daughter"-- he is simply "Louisa May Alcott's Father".
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Also that mercury poisoning is awful & that's a tragedy that could have been avoided for so many people).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the other hand, I admire Louisa more than I can say. Louisa led a good life, if a hard one, despite her father's terrible raising and selfish way. And there is much to learn from her selflessness, especially compared to the people who took advantage of it. You have to wonder what she deleted from her history when she edited her papers and letters before her death, and you have to wonder how her interactions with her family truly were, as we can never know how they actually responded to her generosity and care in the moment. Clearly there was love from both sides, but you can also see that Louisa so often put herself last that she may have been too self-deprecating to record any praise. Louisa May Alcott's endless commitments to her family and to the world around her went unrewarded by those she helped but there is no doubt she sacrificed and worked hard for them (and for total strangers in wartime and the poor and sick around her), the true marker of love.
Little Women has always been a favorite, and the author someone I loved, but I never knew that much about her. With my trip to Boston coming up (and a visit to Orchard House) I wanted to finally read this out of my TBR. This was a great read! It feels nothing like a Juvenile biography, is in depth and well researched it seems to me. The writing doesn't condescend & she doesn't shy away from the hardest parts of Louisa's life. While many complaints I've seen in reviews say that the beginning focuses too much on her parents, I have to say two things: 1. You can't truly know a person without knowing her parents. This is all the more true for Louisa as Bronson Alcott, who seems so unsuccessful to me from this reading, even managed to overshadow her own DEATH. His idealism made him selfish and lazy when his family needed him most and this is what shaped Louisa's entire life and philosophy. 2.The beginning was incredibly interesting. It didn't feel dense with unimportant details. Louisa was the focus even when telling her parents story.
The end of this story was the saddest. I truly hoped to find out that, at the very least, she would have her family around her as she died. But no, Bronson, one last time, stole the show. Shame on the reporters of her death as well. Louisa was the true success in her family and it says much that I read Little Women and knew of Louisa, admiring her work, for years before I even heard Bronson's name. No longer is she "Bronson Alcott's Daughter"-- he is simply "Louisa May Alcott's Father".