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drusmilford's review against another edition
5.0
Of course Louisa May Alcott is one of my all time favorite authors for girlhood on .....
olivekmc's review against another edition
4.0
"The most dangerous thing we can believe is that we are not the authors of our fate. God gave us reason, conscience. We must use it. To say that our life, our world, just is the way that is, that we do not play a part — I think it is the work kind of cowardice."
[b:The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott|7094421|The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott|Kelly O'Connor McNees|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1423533964l/7094421._SY75_.jpg|7351223] is set in the summer of 1855 when the Alcott family moves to Walpole, New Hampshire. There she meets Joseph Singer, a charming young man there Louisa struggles to choose between her independence and her writing career.
As a big fan of [b:Little Women|1934|Little Women|Louisa May Alcott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562690475l/1934._SY75_.jpg|3244642], I enjoyed reading this novel very much. It has a similar atmosphere to Little Women and we see characters that are reminiscent of our favorite characters from Little Women. I personally really enjoyed the romance in this novel. I liked the chemistry between Joseph and Louisa. Though the ending made sense for Louisa, I couldn't help but be heartbroken over how they ended. It makes sense for the characters and if it happened the other way around, I would absolutely be furious lol. But still heartbreaking.
[b:The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott|7094421|The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott|Kelly O'Connor McNees|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1423533964l/7094421._SY75_.jpg|7351223] is set in the summer of 1855 when the Alcott family moves to Walpole, New Hampshire. There she meets Joseph Singer, a charming young man there Louisa struggles to choose between her independence and her writing career.
As a big fan of [b:Little Women|1934|Little Women|Louisa May Alcott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562690475l/1934._SY75_.jpg|3244642], I enjoyed reading this novel very much. It has a similar atmosphere to Little Women and we see characters that are reminiscent of our favorite characters from Little Women. I personally really enjoyed the romance in this novel. I liked the chemistry between Joseph and Louisa. Though the ending made sense for Louisa, I couldn't help but be heartbroken over how they ended. It makes sense for the characters and if it happened the other way around, I would absolutely be furious lol. But still heartbreaking.
vegprincess's review against another edition
4.0
The first thing that attracted me to this book was the pretty cover. No, I don't generally judge books by their covers but to this avid reader, a picture of a book on the cover of a book is irresistible.
This is a historical novel about Louisa May Alcott, part fiction and part based on research by the debut author Kelly O'Connor McNees. It is a gentle and old fashioned tale filled with colorful characters that came as a welcome break from the Holocaust/WWII books I just finished reading. There is a little heartache in The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott it's not of the same intensity. Of particular interest to me were the members of Louisa's family, especially her father. It was also fascinating to read about other authors of that time period who were personally known by the Alcott family. The book inspired me to want to reread Little Women and also to do some of my own research on Louisa May Alcott.
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This is a historical novel about Louisa May Alcott, part fiction and part based on research by the debut author Kelly O'Connor McNees. It is a gentle and old fashioned tale filled with colorful characters that came as a welcome break from the Holocaust/WWII books I just finished reading. There is a little heartache in The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott it's not of the same intensity. Of particular interest to me were the members of Louisa's family, especially her father. It was also fascinating to read about other authors of that time period who were personally known by the Alcott family. The book inspired me to want to reread Little Women and also to do some of my own research on Louisa May Alcott.
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mary00's review against another edition
4.0
Once I got into this book I couldn't put it down. Although the story line is a complete work of fiction, some of the historical facts presented are based on careful research and offer an intriguing look into the life of Louisa May Alcott. This should be an interesting, fun read for anyone who has read and loved Little Women and Alcott's other famous works.
heatherg213's review against another edition
3.0
Like many young girls, I was given a copy of Little Women as a gift. Lousia May Alcott's perfect roman a clef about growing up in genteel poverty during the Civil War has been universally adored by generations of young readers, and despite the drastic social changes that have taken place in the intervening years, Jo March's struggle for independence and freedom from the conventions of society still resonates with many young women struggling to find their way in a complex and often confusing world.
So it was with great excitement that I picked up a copy of The Lost Summer of Lousia May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees at a local discount store. I had read glowing reviews of the book on many of the blogs that I follow, and I anticipated feeling just as taken with the fictionalized account of one youthful summer as all of those bloggers had been. While many authors over the years have used primary historical documents to write fictionalized accounts of the lives of real people, this book seemed to promise some kind of new insight into a hidden chapter of Miss Alcott's life.
The Lost Summer recounts the events of one summer when Louisa was 20. She and her family go to stay in the house of a friend of their father's in Walpole, Massachusetts. Her father Bronson Alcott, was a philosopher who was friends with many of the important intellectuals of the mid 1800s-Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Thoreau, and others. Unfortunately for his family, he believed that working for money would sully his mind, and as a result the Alcott family lived off of the generosity of their friends and family, as well as whatever money the girls could bring in doing piecework or working as tutors and companions. Louisa meets Joseph Singer, a young man trying to manage his father's shop during the older man's long illness. There is an instant attraction between Joseph and Louisa, but he is already pledged to another girl, and she longs for the independence to write. Despite never wanting to marry, Louisa feels herself falling in love with Singer, bonding as they do over Walt Whitman's recently released Leaves of Grass.
Reading the author's note, it becomes obvious that there is actually no historical evidence that Louisa had a love affair as a young girl the year her family lived in Walpole. The entire affair is completely from the imagination of McNees. Which would have been fine, if the story of their love had been as gripping and tragic as some of those rhapsodizing bloggers seemed to find it. My problem with it was that it didn't seem realistic at all. They meet, make eyes at each other, read a few poems, and are suddenly consumed with an unquenchable love for each other. Maybe it's a function of my age, but I just didn't buy the "love at first sight" thing. Infatuation, yes. Physical desire, sure. But full-on, can't-live-without-you love? Sorry, I just didn't get it. As a result, while the book is very well written and I enjoyed McNees' descriptions of New England life in the 1850s, I can only say, "meh".
So it was with great excitement that I picked up a copy of The Lost Summer of Lousia May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees at a local discount store. I had read glowing reviews of the book on many of the blogs that I follow, and I anticipated feeling just as taken with the fictionalized account of one youthful summer as all of those bloggers had been. While many authors over the years have used primary historical documents to write fictionalized accounts of the lives of real people, this book seemed to promise some kind of new insight into a hidden chapter of Miss Alcott's life.
The Lost Summer recounts the events of one summer when Louisa was 20. She and her family go to stay in the house of a friend of their father's in Walpole, Massachusetts. Her father Bronson Alcott, was a philosopher who was friends with many of the important intellectuals of the mid 1800s-Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Thoreau, and others. Unfortunately for his family, he believed that working for money would sully his mind, and as a result the Alcott family lived off of the generosity of their friends and family, as well as whatever money the girls could bring in doing piecework or working as tutors and companions. Louisa meets Joseph Singer, a young man trying to manage his father's shop during the older man's long illness. There is an instant attraction between Joseph and Louisa, but he is already pledged to another girl, and she longs for the independence to write. Despite never wanting to marry, Louisa feels herself falling in love with Singer, bonding as they do over Walt Whitman's recently released Leaves of Grass.
Reading the author's note, it becomes obvious that there is actually no historical evidence that Louisa had a love affair as a young girl the year her family lived in Walpole. The entire affair is completely from the imagination of McNees. Which would have been fine, if the story of their love had been as gripping and tragic as some of those rhapsodizing bloggers seemed to find it. My problem with it was that it didn't seem realistic at all. They meet, make eyes at each other, read a few poems, and are suddenly consumed with an unquenchable love for each other. Maybe it's a function of my age, but I just didn't buy the "love at first sight" thing. Infatuation, yes. Physical desire, sure. But full-on, can't-live-without-you love? Sorry, I just didn't get it. As a result, while the book is very well written and I enjoyed McNees' descriptions of New England life in the 1850s, I can only say, "meh".
cathyatratedreads's review against another edition
3.0
I read Little Women and Little Men but it's just been so long I can barely remember them! I think it may be time to rectify that and read them to my daughters. At any rate, despite not remembering much of the story, I still enjoyed this novel about a summer in the life of Louisa May Alcott in which she falls in love. She's torn between a good young man and her strong desire to be independent and write and live the life she's always wanted to live -- and she's sure that cannot happen within marriage. It's obvious the story cannot end with a "happy ending" of marriage, since we know she died never having married, but it's enjoyable to go into Alcott's inner life and think she may have had the chance to know a great love. McNees did her research and does a good job (it seems!) giving us a look into Louisa's personality and desires.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/lost-summer-louisa-may-alcott-clean-fiction-book-review/
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/lost-summer-louisa-may-alcott-clean-fiction-book-review/
carolann331's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed learning about Louisa May Alcott's family and friends and the place she grew up. The atmosphere and story felt very much like Little Women and while McNees mixes fact with fiction, this creative story is interesting and plausible. It moves at a nice pace and Louisa's personality rings true to a spirited woman determined to live as she chooses.
tracyk22's review against another edition
4.0
I borrowed this book from the library, but now I wish I had bought it, I wanted to mark it up so bad. If you're at all a fan of Little Women, you will want to read this novel. The author did a great job of mixing fact and fiction. I want to believe that this is how Miss Alcott spent the summer of 1855. I'm especially attached to this era in history, after taking a course on Thoreau and the transcendentalists in college and spending a lot of time in Concord, MA, I just fell in love with the whole Concord gang. Bronson Alcott was always a bit of a mystery to me, so it was a treat to see him as a character. It's interesting that Kelly McNees found every LMA biography to be a different interpretation of her. That's probably how she was viewed in life, misunderstood. I think there's a bit of Louisa May in all of us. Highly recommend!
Two of the many passages I wanted to mark:
"Tragedy cannot be measured out and compared on a scale. Loss is loss. And you can never be sure how one is affected. I may speak plainly of these events, but let me assure you, my grief is quite alive just below the surface. It's only that I've learned not to let quite so many of my feelings show."
"The dainty ones look pretty in a sitting room, ma'am, but when a woman is making her way in the world on her own, she must resolve to take fate by the throat and shake a living out of her."
Two of the many passages I wanted to mark:
"Tragedy cannot be measured out and compared on a scale. Loss is loss. And you can never be sure how one is affected. I may speak plainly of these events, but let me assure you, my grief is quite alive just below the surface. It's only that I've learned not to let quite so many of my feelings show."
"The dainty ones look pretty in a sitting room, ma'am, but when a woman is making her way in the world on her own, she must resolve to take fate by the throat and shake a living out of her."
guylou's review against another edition
3.0
How can the author of one of the most read love stories be able to write such story when she, herself, was a "spinster"? This is what Kelly O'Connor McNees attempts to do in this fictional book about Louisa May Alcott, author of "Little women". She recaps the events of the summer of 1855 when Louisa May Alcott finds love and makes the decisions which will send her on her way to be a successful author. This is a light and enjoyable read.