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    Louisa May Alcott: The Short Stories
    Louisa May Alcott: The Short Stories
    Louisa May Alcott: The Short Stories
    Audiobook2 hours

    Louisa May Alcott: The Short Stories

    Written by Louisa May Alcott

    Narrated by Richard Mitchley and Ghizela Rowe

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Louisa May Alcott – An Introduction. Many great writers are defined and remembered by one piece of work; one novel or poem that embeds itself in Society. For Louisa May Alcott it was Little Women - enjoyed by every generation since its publication. Born in 1832 in Germantown Pennsylvania into a poor family she received part of her education from family friends such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. These early influences on the young Louisa together with her early life provided much of the material for her later novels. She was also a poet and a short story writer. Here we have gathered together some of those stories which present her in a very different light. This is a chance to explore her take on other subjects in a different discipline.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Copyright Group
    Release dateJan 1, 2014
    ISBN9781780000992
    Author

    Louisa May Alcott

    Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) won international renown with the publishing of Little Women and its sequel, Good Wives. Her works include An Old Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins and Jack and Jill. Alcott grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, where her family befriended such literary greats as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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    Reviews for Louisa May Alcott

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    • 4/5
      Having waited more than three years after reading Eight Cousins before getting to this one, I found the beginning a little confusing as it took me a while to remember who everyone was and so on. But that was more a fault of mine than of the book, and once I got going, I began to really enjoy it.I thought it was a sweet story. The main question of the story of course is who Rose (and Phebe) will marry but there are other things going on too, as Rose and her cousins mature and try to find their paths and vocations in life. I definitely enjoyed getting to know these characters more and, although I liked some of them a lot more than others, they were all well-drawn and interesting characters. There were one or two pretty sad parts, but the ending was happy and satisfying.Despite the author's preface claiming that there was no moral to the story, there did seem to be a fair amount of moralising in it, but this was generally coming from the characters rather than the author (at least explicitly), and a certain amount is of course to be expected given the time it was written. I didn't find it detracted from the story for me, though I suppose it might bother some people.Overall, a good read, though not quite up there with Little Women or An Old-Fashioned Girl.
    • 4/5
      Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott; (3 1/2*)This book is a must read for all of you readers who enjoyed Eight Cousins. Some of you may have thought that Rose's story ended with Eight Cousins but it doesn't stop there. It continues on here in Rose in Bloom and we get to find out how Rose and these cousins grew up and what happened to them.This book has lost some of the innocence found in the first book as it is slowly lifted as Rose enters into the real world after her return from Europe. All but one of the characters from the first book return in this charming sequel.The cousins are older as well and have found love. The heartwarming challenges these young lovers go through are refreshing in their innocence. Even Jamie is not immune to the talk of love and his innocent candor on the matter is quite amusing.Rose In Bloom answers many questions this reader had the end of 'cousins'. Not everyone comes out of this novel unscathed but that is simply life, isn't it?This is a lovely little book for those readers who enjoyed Eight Cousins.
    • 2/5
      I don’t really have a summary because I wasn’t really interested/paying attention. It seems Rose (raised with a bunch of boy cousins – I know this from the previous book) was away and has returned. I think she might now be looking for a husband. If she isn’t, others are (Phoebe?), as there is lots of talk of “lovers”. Oh, I do remember Rose wanted to become a philanthropist. I listened to the audio, but neither the narrator nor the story made this interesting enough to really listen to what was going on. I rarely paid attention. Oh, and cousins getting married kind of creeps me out.
    • 4/5
      Six years have passed since the end of [Eight Cousins]. Rose, Phebe, and Uncle Alec have been in Europe for the last two, but now they have returned home. Both Rose and Phebe are trying to find their place in the world. Rose's cousins have mostly grown up (Jamie is still a kid); Archie falls in love with Phebe, and Charlie with Rose. But Charlie encounters problems in his life, and Rose is unwilling to marry him. She does try to help him overcome his difficulties. Meanwhile, Mac is studying medicine under Uncle Alec's tutelage, but also dreaming of greatness in other endeavors. He introduces Rose to Emerson's essays.While [Eight Cousins] is a children's book, [Rose in Bloom] is more young adult in its themes. While Rose expresses her concerns about marriage to the wrong person in 19th century moralizing fashion, she does have a point.
    • 3/5
      Rose is just so unrelentingly good. It came across as rather preacher. I wonder how she would deal with Rose and Charlie's relationship. I didn't see how it could end well.
    • 4/5
      Another good story...not quite as good, for me, as Eight Cousins, partly because it is so strongly focused on romance(s). The moral messages are still character-driven, though, and the characters develop well and reasonably. It is again extremely predictable - I haven't read this one nearly as often as I did Eight Cousins, and didn't remember any of what happened, but who Rose would end up with was pretty obvious from the start. Still a pleasant read.
    • 4/5
      Having waited more than three years after reading Eight Cousins before getting to this one, I found the beginning a little confusing as it took me a while to remember who everyone was and so on. But that was more a fault of mine than of the book, and once I got going, I began to really enjoy it.I thought it was a sweet story. The main question of the story of course is who Rose (and Phebe) will marry but there are other things going on too, as Rose and her cousins mature and try to find their paths and vocations in life. I definitely enjoyed getting to know these characters more and, although I liked some of them a lot more than others, they were all well-drawn and interesting characters. There were one or two pretty sad parts, but the ending was happy and satisfying.Despite the author's preface claiming that there was no moral to the story, there did seem to be a fair amount of moralising in it, but this was generally coming from the characters rather than the author (at least explicitly), and a certain amount is of course to be expected given the time it was written. I didn't find it detracted from the story for me, though I suppose it might bother some people.Overall, a good read, though not quite up there with Little Women or An Old-Fashioned Girl.
    • 3/5
      3.5* for this audiobook edition. Marie Therese did an adequate narration but mispronounced certain words which bothered me a little (for example, "vague" with a short a to sound like bag instead of a long a).

      I did enjoy the story despite the moralizing streaks.
    • 4/5
      Previously read - listened to the Recorded Books audio cassette edition. I had much the same reaction to this as I did to Eight Cousins - I know I loved it when I was younger, but parts of it just grated on me now. Alcott's so sincere and the characters all take themselves so seriously that it's cloying. However, I know I loved it for years so I'm rating it based on that rather than my current assessment.
    • 3/5
      Sweet Rose is much reviewed; I add my own here simply as a reminder to myself. Rose is still sweet when she returns home at twenty-one after several years abroad with her uncle and friend. All the aunts would like to plant this Rose in their own home gardens and look with fondness on any perceived attraction between their various sons and their much-loved niece. Rose knows exactly what she is looking for, though, for she’s had an example since childhood from her guardian, Uncle Alec – ”…to me, love isn’t all. I must look up, not down, trust and honor with my whole heart, and find strength and integrity to lean on.” Ms. Alcott’s characters have grown into their own, much as you’d expect to see them after reading [Eight Cousins]. All in all, I think I prefer the first book over this one. But both are nice examples of didactic fiction from the mid-19th century.
    • 3/5
      After spending two years travelling around Europe, Rose, her companion Phoebe and her Uncle Alex come home. Coming out in society, suddenly Rose has many admirers, but feeling unsure as to who really cares for her and who just sees the heiress, she decides that she must make her own way in the world before she can decide on marriage. Deciding to put her money to good use she turns to charitable works.Of course her seven male cousins are on hand to escort her and Phoebe to dances, parties and social events, and the various aunts have high hopes that Rose will fall in love with one of these cousins. Charlie, or Prince as he is called appears to be the one who has stolen Rose’s heart. Unfortunately Charlie has a weakness for alcohol and would rather spend his time in play than in any serious undertaking. Another of Rose’s cousins, Mac, waits and watches patiently as he too is in love with her.Rose In Bloom by Louisa May Alcott is overly sentimental and more than a little preachy. I never fully connected to Rose, as I found she never quite reached the depths that is found in the March girls of Little Women, but this story paints a clear picture of the manners and mores of the times, and what was expected of young people of a certain class. This is a book that totally charmed and captivated me when I was young, but reading it with my jaded eyes today, I mostly found it moralistic and rather dated.
    • 4/5
      While I reread this many times as a child, and loved it dearly, a recent reread left me a little cold. Rose's morals seem impossibly high to meet, and while the spirit behind them is still sweet, I now find her annoying and preachy. Only nostalgia stops me from changing my rating from five stars to three.I'd only give the first books to a die hard Little Woman fan.
    • 3/5
      Does anyone else think that Louisa May Alcott seems to write the most sentimental love scenes ever written? That's one of the only things that I don't like about her books - otherwise, they're good stories. Rose In Bloom, however, was disappointing. The idea of cousins marrying one another is .... strange! (To me, at least. ) I guess I was expecting a different ending for Charlie, and the last chapter made me roll my eyes and shake my head. The first book (Eight Couins) is much happier and less serious.
    • 4/5
      A favorite of mine. Rose in Bloom examines society expectations and the "fate" of nineteenth century gentle women in both the upper and working class. The high moral expectations from both family and society, the prejudices, customs and the lack of opportunity for even educated women is evident on every page. Drawing from personal experience, Louisa creates a bittersweet picture of life in New England in the mid eighteen hundreds.
    • 4/5
      Generally I am torn by sequels. I both love and hate them because they can often take a good story and mar it by having been written for the sole purpose of serving fans or publishers. This one, however, is as charming as its precursor, Eight Cousins. Rose is grown and is then thrown into the world of adulthood where love and drama takes over the fancies and imaginings of childhood. It is a thrilling (if sometimes heartbreaking) story and is a very good read.
    • 5/5
      A slice of life from another era - yes. Hopelessly romantic and idealized - yes. Old fashioned and out of date - yes. I don't care. I love this book, and its prequel Eight Cousins. Rich beautiful Rose must decide how she will spend her life so that it means something. And she must also decide who she will spend it with. (Or rather, with whom she will spend it!)Inscribed: "Mary Alice Burns" (my mother)
    • 3/5
      I really loved this book. It was an excellent read. It should also serve as a lesson to teenaged girls that come from wealthier families. The most important things in life cannot be bought and paid for. I would reccomend this book to anyone.
    • 5/5
      Somehow I missed Eight Cousins when I received this as a Christmas gift one year. And I warn you--it's overly sentimental, filled with Pollyanna characters who moralize to an astonishing degree.But I loved it as a child. And I continue to periodically re-read it to this day, and still love it. Definitely my favorite of Alcott's novels. Go figure.