The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees
Review by Brenna B. (demiducky25)
I think what initially drew me to this book was the word “summer” in the title since I was looking for a book to just get lost in on a recent hot summer day, and this was certainly a book that one can get lost in! Once you start it, it will be hard to put it down.
Anyone that knows the story of Little Women knows of the special kind of love between Jo and her Laurie, and anyone who knows even a little bit about Louisa May Alcott knows that she remained single her entire life and had a habit of destroying letters and portions of her journals. So it is little wonder that generation after generation questions where she got romantic inspiration for her most famous work. Enter Kelly O’Connor McNees and her story The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott where she blends fact with fiction to imagine a mostly undocumented summer in Louisa May Alcott’s life.
Set against the backdrop of New England in 1855, first time author Kelly O’Connor McNees clearly paints a lush setting for this story. It is really easy to visualize everything that’s going on in the story because her descriptions are so detailed. I really wanted walk outside my door and see everything that she described. In terms of the characters, what impressed me is that the Alcott sisters are not complete copycats of their Little Women counterparts. It would have been easy for O’Connor McNees to make them exactly like the March sisters since it is known that Louisa May Alcott based them on her own family. But O’Connor McNees manages to take the characteristics of each sister and make them a bit different from their classical literature doppelganger. This makes it possible to enjoy the Alcott characters without constantly comparing them to the Marches to see how they measure up. In conjunction, I found the portrayal of the Alcott parents to be an interesting contrast to the March parents since they felt a bit more realistic. For instance, O’Connor McNees’ “Marmee” was still someone the sisters idolized as the backbone of the family, but she is also portrayed as being a flawed human who could at times give into anger. Also, “Father Alcott” seems much less likable than “Father March” since his life of poverty seems to be more of a choice than out of circumstances beyond his immediate control. It is not necessary to have read Little Women to enjoy reading this book; however, I felt that having that knowledge did add a little more dimension to the story.
Since romance is a big part of this book, I have to say something about that, but I don’t want to say too much and risk giving something away. I can safely say that at the beginning of the book, the character of Louisa May Alcott has a very strong opinion on what love is and what marriage is and how in her mind true love cannot exist in a marriage. In fact, she doesn’t seem to think true love can exist at all, especially not for a woman with the goal of having a career. However, it is very difficult to write about something that you don’t have any knowledge of, and knowing that the real life Louisa May Alcott remained single yet still created two characters in Little Women with such a unique and special kind of love, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott gives a pretty convincing tale on how love could have come into Louisa May Alcott’s life at one point.
Some books need time to build and others are easy to get into right at the beginning. This one falls into the latter category. It starts off strong by drawing the reader in. Then it holds the reader’s attention for the duration of the story, and by the end of the book you really wish that this was ripped directly from the destroyed letters and diaries of Louisa May Alcott since it just seems to make a lot of sense. It is as if there really couldn’t have been another way for Little Women to have been born or for Alcott to have lived her life. All in all, I give this book 4 ½ out of 5 stars.
I have looked at this book on the library shelves many times but, from the description on the book cover itself, have set it back because it didn’t seem very appealing.
However, this review has changed my mind and I’m going to see if its available here at PBS instead of just borrowing it, as I feel it might well be a keeper for me.
I love Little Women and was afraid this might tarnish that love but knowing it is truly more about LMA than Jo March, et al, I’m ready to give this a go!