From Jo March's Attic: Stories of Intrigue and Suspense - Hardcover

Alcott, Louisa May; Stern, Madeleine B.; Shealy, Daniel

3.68

28 ratings by Goodreads

9781555531775: From Jo March's Attic: Stories of Intrigue and Suspense

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1555531776 ISBN 13: 9781555531775

Publisher: Northeastern Univ Pr, 1993

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Collects nine stories by Louisa May Alcott that were originally published anonymously in "Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine" between 1868 and 1870

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Alcott's alter ego, Jo March, the heroine of the morally uplifting Little Women, writes sensational tales up in the attic; since the mid-1970's, largely through the efforts of editors Stern and Shealy, Alcott's own sensational thrillers (replete with murder, sexual passion, and drug addiction) have been reprinted and correctly credited. Here, nine more tales are collected--tamer romantic melodramas tailored for the women's magazine market. The beautiful women in these stories are punished for their mistakes: greed or deception (even in a good cause) must be paid for with disfigurement or death--preferably suicide. In ``Fatal Follies,'' newlyweds--deeply in love--are driven to madness and death as ominous dreams, misunderstandings, and suspicion twist their passion. The settings are mostly European, the characters usually fortune-seekers and royalty. French phrases (often incorrect) are thrown about for flavor; references to India add additional exotic spice; ardent eyes strive to read fateful answers, while characters say things like ``permit me to assure you that the word `impossible' is unknown to me.'' Occasionally, goodness is rewarded or at least triumphant: a long-suffering poor relation (in ``Honor's Fortune'') and a runaway schoolboy disguised as a girl (in ``My Mysterious Mademoiselle'') impress their intended benefactors when they encounter them unknowingly by coincidence; in ``La Belle BayadŠre,'' a beautiful Hindu dancer humiliates the Englishman who once betrayed her. Amusing period pieces--all written for the flamboyant woman editor of Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine: the stories and Stern's introduction add to our picture of Alcott, as well as of the development of commercial women's writing in America. (Illustrations) -- Copyright �1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist:

Alcott was a devoted scribbler, driven to write both as a way to support her impoverished family and to express her belief in the strength and resourcefulness of women. Just like Edith Wharton and Joyce Carol Oates, Alcott could work on a number of different types of fiction simultaneously. While composing the beloved classic Little Women, she was also producing dozens of stories for various magazines and publishing them pseudonymously. Literary detectives have tracked down many of these breezy creations and released them in four earlier collections. This, then, is the fifth, and its distinction is that each of its nine sensation stories was written specifically for the female audience of Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine, which was edited by the colorful Miriam Squier. The volume's fine introduction provides some biographical information about both Alcott and Squier and places the thrillers within a historical context. The stories themselves are somewhat quaint and certainly melodramatic. Unhappy marriages are the key theme here, and coquettishness and blatant manipulation are the female protagonists' major skills and accomplishments. These thrillers are of interest because they illuminate the darker aspects of Alcott's psyche and typify reading preferences of women some 130 years ago. Donna Seaman

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.