Louisa May Alcott's first published book was actually a collection of fairy tales called Flower Fables. Alcott first told her fanciful tales to Ellen, the daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and later wrote them down as a present. Feeling proud and excited, Alcott's father brought his daughter's tales to a local publisher. Advance copies of Alcott's book came out in 1854, in time for her to give copies as Christmas gifts. In Eva's Visit to Fairy Land, Eva is transported into a beautiful and magical land where fairies diligently work to mend the broken petals and leaves of flowers and wings and legs of insects, all of which have been damaged by cruel human hands. The fairy band also ventured into the mortal world, where they "went among the poor and friendless, bringing pleasant dreams to the sick and old...." Should ever one of the creatures in fairy land fail to be perfect, others among them bring them back into "purity and peace" with "loving words and gentle teachings". In the Frost King, Violet sets out to both love and fearlessly speak to the Frost King about his evil ways. He rejects her request and allows his frost spirits to bear her off to prison. Even when Violet turns her prison into a sunny and happy room, the Frost King scorns her kind offer of a golden mantle that will bring him peace and love. Day after day, Violet remains steadfast, unwilling to give up her cause of bringing warmth to the rest of the flowers back home. In the story of Thistledown, Lily Bell is good while Thistledown is bad. When Thistledown seeks shelter from stormy weather, he finds no one will let him near. This temporarily causes him to repent. As is the true nature of the wayward, however, it isn't long before he becomes bored and resumes his destructive ways. When this betrayal causes a rift between him and best friend Lily Bell, Thistledown begins to rethink his life. Real change in personality can't happen overnight; Alcott is aware of this and so allows Thistledown to repeatedly fail in his goal to be good. Alcott's more interesting tales reminds of Pilgrim's Progress, in their awareness of the fallibility of man. The last story in Flower Fables tells about a water-spirit named Ripple. Its message of keeping promises also felt like a fresh change from the endless admonishments to be good. Ripple comes across a mother who has lost her child to a storm. Longing to comfort her, she promises to find a way to rescue the boy. Little does she know the cost of keeping this promise. As with her awareness of the fallibility of mankind, Alcott also seems to understand how deeply one might have to sacrifice for love. Perhaps, in this truth, Alcott drew upon her own life's experiences, for she spent the bulk of her life doing just this for her family.
About the Author: Louisa May Alcott (1832 -1888) was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868. This novel is loosely based on her childhood experiences with her three sisters. Alcott's literary success arrived with the publication by the Roberts Brothers of the first part of Little Women: or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, a semi-autobiographical account of her childhood with her sisters in Concord, Massachusetts. Part two, or Part Second, also known as Good Wives, followed the March sisters into adulthood and their respective marriages. Little Men detailed Jo's life at the Plumfield School that she founded with her husband Professor Bhaer at the conclusion of Part Two of Little Women. Jo's Boys completed the "March Family Saga". In Little Women, Alcott based her heroine "Jo" on herself. But whereas Jo marries at the end of the story, Alcott remained single throughout her life. In her later life, Alcott became an advocate for women's suffrage and was the first woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts, in a school board election. Alcott, along with Elizabeth Stoddard, Rebecca Harding Davis, Anne Moncure Crane, and others, were part of a group of female authors during the Gilded Age who addressed women's issues in a modern and candid manner. Alcott, who continued to write until her death, suffered chronic health problems in her later years. Alcott died of a stroke in Boston, on March 6, 1888, at age 55, two days after visiting her father's deathbed. Her last words were "Is it not meningitis?"