Rent Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother

Synopsis

"In this meticulously researched look at Louisa May Alcott and her mother, Eve LaPlante shatters myths about the supposed passive Marmee, replacing them with a portrait of a woman who fought for a woman's right to education, professional and maternal satisfaction, and power"(People).

Louisa May Alcott's classic Little Women has been a mainstay of American literature since its release nearly 150 years ago, making her one of the most successful and bestselling authors—male or female—of her day. Biographers have consistently attributed Louisa's uncommon success to her outspoken idealist father, Bronson Alcott, assuming that he was the source of his daughter's progressive thinking and remarkable independence.

But in this riveting dual biography, named "a top ten book of the year" by NPR and hailed as "thoroughly researched and moving" (Kirkus Reviews), award-winning biographer Eve LaPlante explodes these myths, drawing from a trove of surprising new documents to show that it was Louisa's "Marmee," Abigail May Alcott, who formed the intellectual and emotional center of her world. Abigail, whose difficult life both inspired and served as a warning to her devoted daughters, pushed Louisa to excel at writing and to chase her unconventional dreams in a male-dominated world.

In Marmee & Louisa, Eve LaPlante, Abigail's great-niece and Louisa's cousin, paints an exquisitely moving and utterly convincing portrait of a woman decades ahead of her time and her fiercely independent daughter. This "fascinating story of two visionary women" (The Boston Globe) is guaranteed to transform our view of one of America's most beloved authors.

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