Primeros reseñadoresKelly O'Connor McNees

Millions of readers have fallen in love with Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, the four vivacious sisters in Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, LITTLE WOMEN, and have cried over the relationship between Jo and Teddy “Laurie” Laurence. But how could Louisa—who never married or had a love affair, so far as we know—write so convincingly of young love and heartbreak without experiencing it herself? In her debut novel THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, author Kelly O’Connor McNees deftly mixes fact and fiction as she imagines a love affair that would influence Louisa’s writing career for the rest of her life—and inspire the story of Jo and Laurie in LITTLE WOMEN, the first encounter millions of young women have with the complications of love and freedom. The novel opens in October, 1881. Louisa is a bestselling author, successful beyond her wildest dreams. Though she is still just 47 years old, illness has taken a toll on her body and she looks and feels like a much older woman. In fact she is starting to prepare for her death, which she senses is imminent. But before she gives in to the inevitable, she must make sure that a secret from a summer long ago will never resurface. The novel then turns back to the summer of 1855, when the notion of making a living as a writer is still a far-off dream for Louisa. Historical facts set the scene: Walt Whitman’s LEAVES OF GRASS has just been published to shock and acclaim; the Alcott family, destitute, as usual, moves to a generous uncle’s empty house in Walpole, New Hampshire. Here, a striking but pensive 22-year-old Louisa meets the fictional Joseph Singer, who, despite his rakish charm, has trouble winning Louisa over. But just as Louisa begins to open her heart, she learns that Joseph may not be free to give his away. Their newfound love carries a steep price, and Louisa fears she may pay with the independence she has fought so hard to protect. Because LITTLE WOMEN was heavily based on Louisa’s own family, the real-life Alcott sisters depicted in THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT may to many readers feel like familiar old friends: oldest sister Anna (“Meg”), Louisa (“Jo”), sickly and timid Lizzie (“Beth”), and the spoiled and pretty May (“Amy”). But readers will learn how the Alcotts’ real life differed from the fiction of LITTLE WOMEN. While Transcendental friends like Thoreau and Emerson were fixtures of Louisa’s childhood, her father Bronson’s philosophical pursuits left the family finances in shambles. Unlike the wise and placid “Marmee,” her mother was depressed and overwhelmed by poverty and disappointment. For anyone who ever loved LITTLE WOMEN, THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT will be a delightful treat.