Publisher, Tantor Audio (November 2009)

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"A deliciously palatable biography of the iconic writer." ---Kirkus

"This compelling biography allows [listeners] to know Alcott and appreciate her as 'her own best character.'" ---Library Journal

"Enchanting.... [A] full and vivid portrait." ---The Wall Street Journal

"This magnificent new biography...will become not only a best-seller but also a classic." ---The Washington Times

Historical documentarian Harriet Reisen presents a vivid, energetic account of the life of Louisa May Alcott, the first complete biography of the beloved author whose work has delighted millions of readers.

Louisa May Alcott portrays a writer as worthy of interest in her own right as her most famous character, Jo March, and addresses all aspects of Alcott's life: the effect of her father's self-indulgent utopian schemes; her family's chronic economic difficulties and frequent up-rootings; her experience as a nurse in the Civil War; and the loss of her health and frequent recourse to opiates in search of relief from migraines, insomnia, and symptomatic pain. Stories and details culled from Alcott's journals; her equally rich letters to family, friends, publishers, and admiring readers; and the correspondence, journals, and recollections of her family, friends, and famous contemporaries provide the basis for this lively account of the author's classic rags-to-riches tale.

Alcott would become the equivalent of a multimillionaire in her lifetime based on the astounding sales of her books, leaving contemporaries like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Henry James in the dust. This biography explores Alcott's life in the context of her works, all of which are to some extent autobiographical. A fresh, modern take on this remarkable and prolific writer, who secretly authored pulp fiction, harbored radical abolitionist views, and completed heroic service as a Civil War nurse, Louisa May Alcott is also the story of how the all-time beloved American classic Little Women came to be. This revelatory portrait will present the popular author as she was and as she has never been seen before.

About the Author: Harriet Reisen has directed, produced, and developed new programs in various facets of media, including television, radio, print, and publicity. Her writing has spanned comedy, drama, nonfiction, documentary, magazine journalism, radio commentary, film criticism, children's books, and songs. Over the past twenty years, what began as an idea for a film biography of Louisa May Alcott developed into a passion for the subject herself. A former fellow in screenwriting at the American Film Institute, Reisen has written dramatic and historical documentary scripts for PBS and HBO, and radio commentary for Morning Edition and Marketplace. She lives in Massachusetts.