The Inheritance

Produktbeschreibung

Her recently discovered first novel, The Inheritance, written when Alcott was just 17, offers readers a fascinating look at the birth of a remarkable career.

The Inheritance, set in an English country manor, is the story of Edith Adelon, an Italian orphan brought to England by Lord Hamilton as a companion for his children. With a charm reminiscent of Jane Austen's novels, Alcott's plot sets love and courtesy against depravity and dishonor -- and with the help of a secret inheritance, allows virtue to prevail.In their Introduction, Joel Myerson and Daniel Shealy relate their fortuitous discovery of Alcott's manuscript draft of The Inheritance (preserved at the Houghton Library of Harvard). They explore the forces -- both literary and personal -- that shaped the novel, and study how it foreshadowed Alcott's later work.

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Autoreninfo

Louisa May Alcott, born on November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania, grew up in a family deeply engaged in social reform and education. Her father, Bronson Alcott, was a transcendentalist and educator, influencing Louisa's ideals despite the family's financial struggles. Surrounded by notable thinkers like Emerson and Thoreau, she developed a passion for writing early in life.Alcott worked various jobs to support her family, but her time as a Civil War nurse profoundly impacted her. This experience inspired Hospital Sketches, bringing her public attention and fueling her literary career. Her greatest success came with Little Women (1868), a semi-autobiographical novel that captured the lives of the March sistersspite health challenges later in life, Alcott continued to write and advocate for social causes, including women's suffrage and abolition. She never married, choosing instead a life focused on family and literature. Louisa May Alcott passed away on March 6, 1888, leaving a legacy as one of America's most beloved authors.