Little women abroad : the Alcott sisters' letters from Europe, 1870-1871 /

This beautifully produced volume collects and reprints in their entirety the 71 extant letters Louisa Alcott and her younger sister May wrote to family and friends at home during the grand European tour (1870-71) they took with their friend Alice Bartlett. This pivotal year of travel initiated Louisa's "post-Little Women" time as a celebrated authoress and turned shy May into a "more mature, more independent traveler." The text of most of the letters is based on copies of the originals made by Bronson Alcott, who also noted small illustrations and sketches that May, an art student and teacher, added to her missives (the fate of the original letters is unknown). For Louisa, the letters became a source for the volume Shawl-Straps (1872). Shealy (Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte) notes that the letters reveal the "interesting viewpoint" of these "independent " Victorian women traveling abroad and also say something about both "the relationship between the two Alcott sisters" and American attitudes toward Europe in the late-19th century. Numerous illustrations, some of them May's sketches, others from contemporary publications, capture the feel of the period in both the bustling cities of Europe and the quiet streets of the Alcotts' native Concord. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. J. J. Benardete The New School