She wrote some of the most beloved stories of all time-Little Women and Little Men-and some sensationalistic (but lesser known) potboilers that still thrill: A Long Fatal Love Chase, Pauline's Passion and Punishment, and others. Novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) is an American treasure, one of the best known novelists of the 19th century and an essential figure in the literature and the social movements (early feminism; abolition) of her day. This early biography, by American writer EDNAH DOW LITTLEHALE CHENEY (1824-1904) and first published in 1888, explores and gives context to Alcott's works through the prism of her life and her experiences. From her poverty-stricken childhood in Concord, Massachusetts to her time as a nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War to her travels in Europe, this is an intimate look at Alcott's life, told in part through her own words. As a contemporary of Alcott, Cheney brings a perspective that no future biography could add, making this an endlessly valuable addition to our understanding of an important writer.