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Under the Lilacs By Louisa May AlcottUnder the Lilacs is a children's novel by Louisa May Alcott, first published in 1878.Bab and Betty, two little girls, are having a tea party with their dolls when an unknown dog appears and steals their cake. The girls find the dog, Sancho, along with his owner Ben Brown, a run-away from the circus who is hiding in their play barn in a carriage. They discover that Ben is a horse master and when he is taken in by the Moss', they get him a job on a neighboring farm. It is there that he can work with horses and drive cows. Ben eventually finds out that his father, who he loved dearly, was dead. A neighbor, Miss Celia, helps him through his grief and he moves in with her and her brother Thornton who is fourteen. He has a job, and a family, and an opportunity for education. Ben has a wonderful life now, but his life in the circus was full of adventure and excitement which is a struggle for Ben. Many adventures and summer-happenings go on in Celia's house, as Ben slowly finds his place among his friends. Sancho gets lost and later is found by Betty with his tail cut off. Sancho's temper is therefore affected forever prompting him to be unfriendly to tramps and strangers, Ben is accused of stealing, Miss Celia gets hurt and Ben takes a wild ride on her horse, Lita. They have an archery competition, where Ben emerges as the winner almost beaten by Bab. In the end Ben's father is revealed to be alive and he comes home. There they both settle down.The elm-tree avenue was all overgrown, the great gate was never unlocked, and the old house had been shut up for several years. Yet voices were heard about the place, the lilacs nodded over the high wall as if they said, "We could tell fine secrets if we chose," and the mullein outside the gate made haste to reach the keyhole, that it might peep in and see what was going on. If it had suddenly grown up like a magic bean-stalk, and looked in on a certain June day, it would have seen a droll but pleasant sight, for somebody evidently was going to have a party. From the gate to the porch went a wide walk, paved with smooth slabs of dark stone, and bordered with the tall bushes which met overhead, making a green roof. All sorts of neglected flowers and wild weeds grew between their stems, covering the walls of this summer parlor with the prettiest tapestry.

May Flowers By Louisa May AlcottBeing Boston girls, of course they got up a club for mental improvement, and, as they were all descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers, they called it the May Flower Club. A very good name, and the six young girls who were members of it made a very pretty posy when they met together, once a week, to sew, and read well-chosen books. At the first meeting of the season, after being separated all summer, there was a good deal of gossip to be attended to before the question, "What shall we read?" came up for serious discussion. Anna Winslow, as president, began by proposing "Happy Dodd " but a chorus of "I've read it " made her turn to her list for another title. "'Prisoners of Poverty' is all about workingwomen, very true and very sad but Mamma said it might do us good to know something of the hard times other girls have," said Anna, soberly for she was a thoughtful creature, very anxious to do her duty in all ways. "I'd rather not know about sad things, since I can't help to make them any better," answered Ella Carver, softly patting the apple blossoms she was embroidering on a bit of blue satin. "But we might help if we really tried, I suppose you know how much Happy Dodd did when she once began, and she was only a poor little girl without half the means of doing good which we have," said Anna, glad to discuss the matter, for she had a little plan in her head and wanted to prepare a way for proposing it."Yes, I'm always saying that I have more than my share of fun and comfort and pretty things, and that I ought and will share them with some one. But I don't do it and now and then, when I hear about real poverty, or dreadful sickness, I feel so wicked it quite upsets me. If I knew how to begin, I really would. But dirty little children don't come in my way, nor tipsy women to be reformed, nor nice lame girls to sing and pray with, as it all happens in books," cried Marion Warren, with such a remorseful expression on her merry round face that her mates laughed with one accord. "I know something that I could do if I only had the courage to begin it. But Papa would shake his head unbelievingly, and Mamma worry about its being proper, and it would interfere with my music, and everything nice that I especially wanted to go to would be sure to come on whatever day I set for my good work, and I should get discouraged or ashamed, and not half do it, so I don't begin, but I know I ought.

A Whisper in the Darkby Louisa May Alcott As we rolled along, I scanned my companion covertly, and saw much to interest a girl of seventeen. My uncle was a handsome man, with all the polish of foreign life fresh upon him yet it was neither comeliness nor graceful ease which most attracted me for even my inexperienced eye caught glimpses of something stern and sombre below these external charms, and my long scrutiny showed me the keenest eye, the hardest mouth, the subtlest smile I ever saw, -a face which in repose wore the look which comes to those who have led lives of pleasure and learned their emptiness. He seemed intent on some thought that absorbed him, and for a time rendered him forgetful of my presence, as he sat with folded arms, fixed eyes, and restless lips. While I looked, my own mind was full of deeper thought than it had ever been before for I was recalling, word for word, a paragraph in that half-read letter: "At eighteen Sybil is to marry her cousin, the compact having been made between my brother and myself in their childhood. My son is with me now, and I wish them to be together during the next few months, therefore my niece must leave you sooner than I at first intended. Oblige me by preparing her for an immediate and final separation, but leave all disclosures to me, as I prefer the girl to remain ignorant of the matter for the present."That displeased me. Why was I to remain ignorant of so important an affair? Then I smiled to myself, remembering that I did know, thanks to the wilful curiosity that prompted me to steal a peep into the letter that Madame Bernard had pored over with such an anxious face. I saw only a single paragraph, for my own name arrested my eye and, though wild to read all, I had scarcely time to whisk the paper back into the reticule the forgetful old soul had left hanging on the arm of her chair. It was enough, however, to set my girlish brain in a ferment, and keep me gazing wistfully at my uncle, conscious that my future now lay in his hands for I was an orphan and he my guardian, though I had seen him but seldom since I was confided to madame a six years' child. Presently my uncle became cognizant of my steady stare, and returned it with one as steady for a moment, then said, in a low, smooth tone, that ill accorded with the satirical smile that touched his lips,"I am a dull companion for my little niece. How shall I provide her with pleasanter amusement than counting my wrinkles or guessing my thoughts?"

A Modern MephistophelesLouisa May AlcottLOUISA MAY ALCOTT WAS A 19TH CENTURY AMERICAN NOVELIST. HER NOVELS LITTLE WOMEN AND JO'S BOYS ARE HER BEST-KNOWN WORKS. ALCOTT BECAME A STRONG FEMINIST AND ABOLITIONIST. IN 1862-63 SHE WORKED AS A NURSE IN THE UNION HOSPITAL IN GEORGETOWN D C. A MODERN MEPHISTOPHELES IS A STORY FULL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TENSION AND DRAMA. IT EXPLORES A POOR FAILING WRITER'S PRICE FOR GIVING HIS DEVOTION TO ANOTHER. THE NOVEL TOUCHES ON THE SUBJECTS OF SEXUALITY AND DRUG ABUSE. ALCOTT GIVES HER READER A STUDY IN HUMAN EVIL AND THE HORRIBLE CONSEQUENCES."A MODERN MEPHISTOPHELES" WAS WRITTEN AMONG THE EARLIER VOLUMES OF THE NO NAME SERIES, WHEN THE CHIEF IDEA OF THE AUTHORS WAS TO PUZZLE THEIR READERS BY DISGUISING THEIR STYLE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, THAT THEY MIGHT ENJOY THE GUESSING AND CRITICISM AS EACH NOVEL APPEARED. THIS BOOK WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN PRESERVING ITS INCOGNITO AND MANY PERSONS STILL INSIST THAT IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR OF "LITTLE WOMEN." AS I MUCH ENJOYED TRYING TO EMBODY A SHADOW OF MY FAVORITE POEM IN A STORY, AS WELL AS THE AMUSEMENT IT HAS AFFORDED THOSE IN THE SECRET FOR SOME YEARS, IT IS CONSIDERED WELL TO ADD THIS VOLUME TO THE FEW ROMANCES WHICH ARE OFFERED, NOT AS FINISHED WORK BY ANY MEANS, BUT MERELY ATTEMPTS AT SOMETHING GRAVER THAN MAGAZINE STORIES OR JUVENILE LITERATURE.WITHOUT, A MIDWINTER TWILIGHT, WHERE WANDERING SNOWFLAKES EDDIED IN THE BITTER WIND BETWEEN A LEADEN SKY AND FROST-BOUND EARTH. WITHIN, A GARRET GLOOMY, BARE, AND COLD AS THE BLEAK NIGHT COMING DOWN. A HAGGARD YOUTH KNELT BEFORE A LITTLE FURNACE, KINDLING A FIRE, WITH AN EXPRESSION OF QUIET DESPERATION ON HIS FACE, WHICH MADE THE SIMPLE OPERATION STRANGE AND SOLEMN. A PILE OF MANUSCRIPT LAY BESIDE HIM, AND IN THE HOLLOW EYES THAT WATCHED THE WHITE LEAVES BURN WAS A TRAGIC SHADOW, TERRIBLE TO SEE, -FOR HE WAS OFFERING THE FIRST-BORN OF HEART AND BRAIN AS SACRIFICE TO A HARD FATE. SLOWLY THE CHARCOAL CAUGHT AND KINDLED, WHILE A LIGHT SMOKE FILLED THE ROOM. SLOWLY THE YOUTH STAGGERED UP, AND, GATHERING THE TORN SHEETS, THRUST THEM INTO HIS BOSOM, MUTTERING BITTERLY, "OF ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS, MY WEARY WORK AND PATIENT WAITING, NOTHING IS LEFT BUT THIS. POOR LITTLE BOOK, WE'LL GO TOGETHER, AND LEAVE NO TRACE BEHIND." THROWING HIMSELF INTO A CHAIR, HE LAID HIS HEAD DOWN UPON THE TABLE, WHERE NO FOOD HAD BEEN FOR DAYS, AND, CLOSING HIS EYES, WAITED IN STERN SILENCE FOR DEATH TO COME AND TAKE HIM.

A Garland For Girls1887 Being Boston girls, of course they got up a club for mental improvement, and, as they were all descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers, they called it the Mayflower Club. A very good name, and the six young girls who were members of it made a very pretty posy when they met together, once a week, to sew, and read well-chosen books. At the first meeting of the season, after being separated all summer, there was a good deal of gossip to be attended to before the question, "What shall we read?" came up for serious discussion. Anna Winslow, as president, began by proposing "Happy Dodd " but a chorus of "I've read it " made her turn to her list for another title. "'Prisoners of Poverty' is all about workingwomen, very true and very sad but Mamma said it might do us good to know something of the hard times other girls have," said Anna, soberly for she was a thoughtful creature, very anxious to do her duty in all ways. "I'd rather not know about sad things, since I can't help to make them any better," answered Ella Carver, softly patting the apple blossoms she was embroidering on a bit of blue satin. "But we might help if we really tried, I suppose you know how much Happy Dodd did when she once began, and she was only a poor little girl without half the means of doing good which we have," said Anna, glad to discuss the matter, for she had a little plan in her head and wanted to prepare a way for proposing it."Yes, I'm always saying that I have more than my share of fun and comfort and pretty things, and that I ought and will share them with some one. But I don't do it and now and then, when I hear about real poverty, or dreadful sickness, I feel so wicked it quite upsets me. If I knew HOW to begin, I really would. But dirty little children don't come in my way, nor tipsy women to be reformed, nor nice lame girls to sing and pray with, as it all happens in books," cried Marion Warren, with such a remorseful expression on her merry round face that her mates laughed with one accord. "I know something that I COULD do if I only had the courage to begin it. But Papa would shake his head unbelievingly, and Mamma worry about its being proper, and it would interfere with my music, and everything nice that I especially wanted to go to would be sure to come on whatever day I set for my good work, and I should get discouraged or ashamed, and not half do it, so I don't begin, but I know I ought."

The Mysterious Key And What It Opened By Louisa May AlcottTrevlyn lands and Trevlyn gold, Heir nor heiress e'er shall hold, Undisturbed, till, spite of rust, Truth is found in Trevlyn dust. "This is the third time I've found you poring over that old rhyme. What is the charm, Richard? Not its poetry I fancy." And the young wife laid a slender hand on the yellow, time-worn page where, in Old English text, appeared the lines she laughed at. Richard Trevlyn looked up with a smile and threw by the book, as if annoyed at being discovered reading it. Drawing his wife's hand through his own, he led her back to her couch, folded the soft shawls about her, and, sitting in a low chair beside her, said in a cheerful tone, though his eyes betrayed some hidden care, "My love, that book is a history of our family for centuries, and that old prophecy has never yet been fulfilled, except the 'heir and heiress' line. I am the last Trevlyn, and as the time draws near when my child shall be born, I naturally think of his future, and hope he will enjoy his heritage in peace." "God grant it " softly echoed Lady Trevlyn, adding, with a look askance at the old book, "I read that history once, and fancied it must be a romance, such dreadful things are recorded in it. Is it all true, Richard?" "Yes, dear. I wish it was not. Ours has been a wild, unhappy race till the last generation or two. The stormy nature came in with old Sir Ralph, the fierce Norman knight, who killed his only son in a fit of wrath, by a blow with his steel gauntlet, because the boy's strong will would not yield to his." "Yes, I remember, and his daughter Clotilde held the castle during a siege, and married her cousin, Count Hugo. 'Tis a warlike race, and I like it in spite of the mad deeds." "Married her cousin That has been the bane of our family in times past. Being too proud to mate elsewhere, we have kept to ourselves till idiots and lunatics began to appear. My father was the first who broke the law among us, and I followed his example: choosing the freshest, sturdiest flower I could find to transplant into our exhausted soil." "I hope it will do you honor by blossoming bravely. I never forget that you took me from a very humble home, and have made me the happiest wife in England." "And I never forget that you, a girl of eighteen, consented to leave your hills and come to cheer the long-deserted house of an old man like me," returned her husband fondly.

Shawl-Straps By Louisa M. Alcott'On the first day of February we three will sail from Boston for Messina, in the little fruit-ship "Wasp." We shall probably be a month going, unless we cross in a gale as I did, splitting sails every night, and standing on our heads most of the way, ' said Amanda, folding up her maps with an air of calm decision. 'Hurrah what fun ' cried Matilda, waving a half-finished dressing-case over her head. But Lavinia, with one sepulchral groan, fell flat upon her bed, and lay there, dumb with the horrors of such a voyage. 'Just the thing for you, my poor old dear. Think of the balmy airs of Sicily, the oranges, the flowers. Then a delicious month or two at Sorrento, with no east winds, no slush, no spring cleaning. We shall be as merry as grigs, and get as buxom as dairy-maids in a month, ' said the sprightly Amanda. 'You promised to go, and if you back out we are lost, for we must have a duenna. You can lie round in Europe just as well as here, and I have no doubt it will do you a world of good, ' added Matilda. 'I shall keep my word but you will bury me in the Atlantic, so make up your minds to it. Do you suppose that I, a poor, used-up old invalid, who can't look at a sail-boat without a qualm, can survive thirty days of standing on my head, and thirty nights of sail-splitting, as we go slamming and lurching across two or three awful oceans' demanded Lavinia, with the energy of despair. Before anyone could reply, Amanda's little Mercury appeared with a note. 'The "Wasp" will not take passengers, and no other fruit-ship sails this spring, ' read Amanda. 'Oh dear ' sighed Matilda. 'Saved ' cried Lavinia. 'Be calm: we shall go, sooner or later, if I buy a ship and sail her myself ' with which indomitable remark Amanda went forth to grapple with and conquer untoward circumstances. A month of plans, vicissitudes, and suspense followed, during which Amanda strove manfully Matilda suffered agonies of hope and fear and Lavinia remained a passive shuttlecock, waiting to be tossed wherever Fate's battledore chose to send her. 'Exactly two weeks from to-day, we sail with a party of friends in the French steamer "Lafayette," from New York for Brest. Will you be ready' demanded Amanda, after a protracted wrestle with aforesaid adverse circumstances. 'But that is exactly what we didn't mean to do. It's expensive and fashionable France and not Italy, north and not south.

Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Alcott wrote the books over several months at the request of her publisher. Following the lives of the four March sisters-Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy-the novel details their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters

Little Men Louisa May AlcottLittle Men, or Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys, is a children's novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), which was first published in 1871 by Roberts Brothers. The novel reprises characters from Little Women and acts as a sequel, or second book in an unofficial Little Women trilogy. The trilogy ends with Alcott's 1886 novel, Jo's Boys, and How They Turned Out: A Sequel to "Little Men." Alcott's story recounts the life of Jo Bhaer, her husband, and the various children at Plumfield Estate School. Alcott's classic novel has been adapted to a 1934 film, a 1940 film, a television series, and a Japanese animated television series.Alcott's novel narrates six months in the life of the students at Plumfield, a school run by German Professor Friedrich and his wife, Mrs. Josephine Bhaer (n e March). The idea of the school is first suggested at the very end of Little Women, Part Two, when Jo inherits Plumfield Estate from her late Aunt March.The story was originally inspired by the death of Alcott's brother-in-law, which is revealed in one of the last chapters, when a beloved character, John Brooke, from Little Women dies.Alcott's first inspiration for bringing educational ideals into the home and the development of a home-like model into the classroom, stems from her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, "an educational reformer and prominent Transcendentalist." As a "Transcendentalist visionary," her father was considered unconventional even among his reform contemporaries.Educational theorists such as Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, also provided the inspiration for Alcott's educational methodologies and "stressed the need for the school to be as homelike as possible."As an educational reformer, Alcott's father believed education, "should simply turn the child's mind inward to recognize that divinity." Alcott's father also "believed that the theatrical performance of moral allegories by children would train them in the self-restraint that was the basis of domestic harmony and happiness."Bronson Alcott's appeal to children's imagination "was part of an effort to harness the child's imaginative powers to the pursuit of the passionless life." Alcott incorporates family dramatizations for the children of Plumfield to teach children "how to control every aspect of their self-expression."The story begins with the arrival of Nat Blake, a shy young orphan who is gifted at playing the violin and telling fibs.

Hospital SketchesLouisa May Alcott 1862 Hospital Sketches (1863) is a compilation of four sketches based on letters Louisa May Alcott sent home during the six weeks she spent as a volunteer nurse for the Union Army during the American Civil War in Georgetown.Tribulation Periwinkle opens the story by complaining, "I want something to do." She dismisses suggestions to write a book, teach, get married, or start acting. When her younger brother suggests she "go nurse the soldiers", she immediately responds, "I will " After substantial hardship in trying to obtain a spot, she has further difficulty finding a place on the train. She then describes her travel through New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore en route to Washington DC.Immediately after her arrival, Periwinkle must attend to the wounded from the Battle of Fredericksburg. Her first assignment is washing them before putting them to bed. She converses with the various wounded soldiers, including an Irishman and a Virginia blacksmith. The death of the blacksmith, a man named John, in particular touches her deeply.After the Civil War broke out, the town of Concord, Massachusetts rallied, inspiring many young men to volunteer. The company assembled on the town common on April 19, 1861, the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord as they set off. Louisa May Alcott wrote to her friend Alf Whitman that it was "a sight to behold". She was disappointed that she had to stay behind, lamenting, "as I can't fight, I will content myself with working with those who can."She joined local women who volunteered to sew clothes and provide other supplies. On her 30th birthday on November 29, 1862, she made up her mind to do more. She recorded in her journal, "Thirty years old. Decide to go to Washington as a nurse if I could find a place." She received her orders on December 11 and made her way to Georgetown, outside of Washington, D.C. While working as a nurse, Alcott contracted typhoid fever and was treated with mercury in the form of calomel. She survived but later recorded, "I was never ill before this time, and never well afterward."While serving as a nurse, Alcott wrote several letters to her family in Concord. At the urging of others, she prepared them for publication, slightly altering and fictionalizing them. The narrator of the stories was renamed Tribulation Periwinkle but the sketches are virtually authentic to Alcott's real experiences.

Eight Cousins, or The Aunt-HillLouisa May Alcott Eight Cousins, or The Aunt-Hill was published in 1875 by American novelist Louisa May Alcott. It is the story of Rose Campbell, a lonely and sickly girl who has been recently orphaned and must now reside with her maiden great aunts (yet having a guardian), who are the matriarchs of her wealthy Boston family. When Rose's guardian, Uncle Alec, returns from abroad, he takes over her care. Through his unorthodox theories about child-rearing, she becomes happier and healthier while finding her place in her family of seven boy cousins and numerous aunts and uncles. She also makes friends with Phebe, her aunts' young housemaid, whose cheerful attitude in the face of poverty helps Rose to understand and value her own good fortune.Each chapter describes an adventure in Rose's life as she learns to help herself and others make good choices. Rose must define for herself her role as the only woman of her generation in her family and as an heiress in Boston's elite society.Motherless for most of her life, 13-year-old Rose looks to her many aunts, her friends, and the housemaid Phebe as feminine role models. At the same time, she is suddenly confronted with a male guardian and seven male cousins, none of whom she knows well, after losing her beloved father, the only man in her life.Like all of Alcott's books for young people, the story takes a high moral tone. Various chapters illustrate the evils of cigar-smoking, "yellow-back" novels, high fashion, billiards, and patent nostrums, while promoting exercise, a healthy diet, and wholesome experiences of many kinds for girls as well as boys. Alcott uses the novel to promote education theories and feminist ideas, many of which appear in her other books. For example, in choosing Rose's wardrobe, Uncle Alec rejects current women's fashions (such as corsets, high heels, veils, and bustles) in favor of less restrictive, healthier clothing. Although he discourages her from the professional study of medicine, he educates her in physiology, a subject her aunts consider inappropriate for girls, so she can understand and take charge of her own health. Rose is prepared for a career as a wife and mother, yet is taught that she must take active, thoughtful control of her fortune so she can use it and social position to the best advantage of the larger community.

There are four March sisters: oldest-sister Meg, who just wants to be "normal" and go to parties, hot-tempered and creative Jo, who wants desperately to be a writer, shy and musical Beth, who cares for the weakest in society, and last-but certainly not least-artistic Amy, who is sick of being treated like the baby and wishes that she was rich.Each sister-along with Laurie, the boy next door-faces challenges and adventures, unexpected grief, and delighted joy as they journey through years filled with holiday celebrations, near-death experiences, world travel, first loves, and so much more. Devoted to their parents, they must decide if their parents' idealistic ways are worth following into adulthood.This classic has been beloved by readers since it was first published in 1868. Presented here unabridged, it is accompanied by conversational annotations for today's adolescent readers. You'll also find short essays on the life of L. M. Alcott, on the primary themes, and reflection questions spread throughout to guide your experience with the text. This edition is perfect for introducing a new generation to Little Women for the first time It's also great for the classroom, for homeschoolers, for collectors, or for anyone looking to delve deeper into this well-beloved text

There are four March sisters: oldest-sister Meg, who just wants to be "normal" and go to parties, hot-tempered and creative Jo, who wants desperately to be a writer, shy and musical Beth, who cares for the weakest in society, and last-but certainly not least-artistic Amy, who is sick of being treated like the baby and wishes that she was rich.Each sister-along with Laurie, the boy next door-faces challenges and adventures, unexpected grief, and delighted joy as they journey through years filled with holiday celebrations, near-death experiences, world travel, first loves, and so much more. Devoted to their parents, they must decide if their parents' idealistic ways are worth following into adulthood.This classic has been beloved by readers since it was first published in 1868. Presented here unabridged, it is accompanied by conversational annotations for today's adolescent readers. You'll also find short essays on the life of L. M. Alcott, on the primary themes, and reflection questions spread throughout to guide your experience with the text. This edition is perfect for introducing a new generation to Little Women for the first time It's also great for the classroom, for homeschoolers, for collectors, or for anyone looking to delve deeper into this well-beloved text