Initially, in an all too familiar trope, the two take a disliking to each other. Louisa dreams of, ".freedom and money of her own, lots of it, so that she could control her fate and take care of her parents, to come and go as she pleased, to have an apartment of her own, with bright window an a desk so wide she could curl up to sleep on top of it when the words wouldn't come." (p157) She worries that the needs of her family will prevent her from having these things-that she is already stuck in a trap not of her own devising. Joseph is drawn to Louisa's mind and spirit, while she is eager to get on with the living of her life. McNees has given us a love story in which Louisa finds and loses her first love: a clerk at a dry goods store. As many of Louisa's diaries and letters were destroyed, little is known about this summer, making it ripe for speculation. It is set during the summer of 1855 when the Alcott family was living in Walpole, NH. While I'm on the topic of 19C women writers, I thought I'd briefly touch upon Kelly O'Connor McNees The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott.
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