Strange Life

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) is, of course, best known as the author ofLittle Women(1868). But she was also a noted essayist who wroteon a wide range of subjects, includingher father's failed utopian commune,the benefits of an unmarried life,and her experience as a young woman sent to work in service to alleviate her family's poverty. Her firstliterary successwas a contemporary close-up accountof the American Civil War,brilliantly depicted inHospital Sketchesdrawn from her own experienceof serving as an army nurse near the nation's capitol. As with her famous novel, Alcott writes these essays with clear observation, unforgettable scenes, and one of the sharpest wits in American literature. Blending gentle satire with reportage and emotive autobiography, Alcott's exquisite essays are as exceptional as the novels she is known for. Published together for the first time, this delightful selection shows us another side to one of our most celebrated writers.