Little Women

 PBS Masterpiece Theater

I noticed on the Writer's Almanac that today is the birthday of Louisa May Alcott, born in 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania.  She had an unconventional childhood, and was tutored by free-thinkers like Hawthorn, Thoreau and Emerson.

Her father was a social idealist and ran experimental schools, including a vegan commune where no one owed personal property, used animal labor or wore cotton (because of slavery.)  A recipe for failure, like most of his social projects. Anyway, the family was always poor and she worked as a seamstress and later a nurse during the Civil War.

Of course she is forever associated with her novel "Little Women," but she started out writing what she called "blood and thunder" stories: lurid potboilers featuring opium addiction, sex and revenge. They had titles like "Pauline's Passion and Punishment" and "A Long Fatal Love Chase," which sounds like a far cry from "Little Women."

The book has been made into countless movies, and each generation has its own adaptation. A few months ago we watched the PBS Masterpiece Theater "Little Women," yet another updated version of the classic.  The sisters act more like high school kids today, running around barefoot with loose hair flying, flirting with boys. Maybe not realistic 19th century social behavior, but the pretty girls were fun to watch. The actress Maya Hawke plays "Jo." She was great, no surprise, as she's Uma Thurman's daughter. 

You might still be able to find it as a rerun on PBS: