“Not being very manual, I will use my head like a battering ram and carve my way through this upside down world.”
—Louisa May Alcott
The saga of Dr. March’s daughters has shaped the imagination of generations of young readers, but the life of its author has remained in the shadows. Feminist and abolitionist activism, a predilection for powerful novels, an arduous relationship with fame, and a questioning of the institution of marriage: Louisa May Alcott’s letters—unpublished in French—tell the incredible story of a writer who knew how to make her way in a man’s world.
