From Kirkus Reviews:
A few revealing fragments: excerpts from the diary Alcott started at ten; her mother's responses to it; Louisa's own comments, added as an adult (when she destroyed much of the original diary); letters; and parallel quotes from Little Women (pairing Beth's death with Alcott's account of her sister Lizzie's--the only entry dating from her 20s--is particularly poignant; in its simplicity and directness, the diary is even more eloquent). In step with recent biographers, Ryan's commentary and selections present the Alcott family as troubled: Bronson's vaunted Socratic method is seen as virtual bullying, his wife's exhaustion such that Louisa's lifelong ambition was to alleviate her toil, and Louisa herself bedeviled with the impossibility of being ``good'' (suppressing her emotions). Still, Little Women is not an untruth; it's one side of a complex story, and Ryan makes it clear that the Alcotts were creative, loyal, and genuinely affectionate. Graham's rather misty, generalized paintings reflect the sunnier side and--while pretty- -don't do justice to Alcott's and Ryan's honesty. Attractive, enlightening, carefully wrought. Chronology; sources; index. (Biography. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly:
Written when Alcott was between the ages of 10 and 13, these lucid diary entries in essence provide a behind-the-scenes look at her classic novel, Little Women . Quotes from that novel, as well as Ryan's insightful annotations, reinforce the parallel between Alcott's fiction and her childhood years. Born in 1832, Alcott and her three sisters had a regimented upbringing on Fruitlands, the experimental Massachusetts farm begun by their father and a friend. After the farm failed, the family moved into the Concord home that became the model for the setting of Little Women . Here, Alcott "at last got the little room I have wanted so long," in which she continued to sharpen her writing skills. According to Ryan, Alcott's father nurtured in her "what she needed to become a writer: a love and mastery of language and a freedom and power of expression." On the basis of this volume--which contains a sampling of her heartfelt, strikingly sophisticated poetry--Alcott achieved these goals at an impressively young age. Polished, period paintings by Graham ( Roommates ; Lottie's Dream ) present affecting portraits of the girl who so eloquently expresses herself on these pages. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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