THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

Louisa May Alcott’s fans have long speculated that the romance between Jo and Laurie in LITTLE WOMEN might have been based on some unknown aspect of Alcott’s real-life experience. Here the author weaves a fictional story out of that speculation. Emily Card’s authentic performance is akin to eavesdropping on Alcott’s private journal entries, which are blended with the fictional aspects of the story. Card’s voice captures Louisa’s passion for writing and her independent spirit, which, in her mind, means foregoing marriage with her fictional lover, Joseph Singer. In the novel their romance is intricately linked to Walt Whitman’s LEAVES OF GRASS, poems that favor their liberal views. Card shifts smoothly from the familiar voices of Louisa’s family to her father’s Transcendentalist theories, which mire the family in poverty. The combination of Alcott’s words and Card’s reading is magic. K.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2010]