CDIS11 — Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott was raised in poverty by a father who considered work beneath him, forcing the family to move 30 times to escape creditors. So, under the pen name A. M. Barnard, Alcott supported the family by writing stories filled with intrigue, violence, and strong women. When her publisher pushed Alcott to write a book for girls, Louisa balked, saying: “Never liked girls or knew many, except my sisters,” but Little Women was a success and sold 2000 copies in two weeks. Alcott, however, was more than a writer. She was a servant, a Civil War nurse, a feminist, an abolitionist—and an invalid for most of her adult life. A complex figure, Louisa May Alcott was the first great American woman writer.