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    The Other Alcott: A Novel
    The Other Alcott: A Novel
    The Other Alcott: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Other Alcott: A Novel

    Written by Elise Hooper

    Narrated by Cassandra Campbell

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Elise Hooper’s debut novel conjures the fascinating, untold story of May Alcott—Louisa’s youngest sister and an artist in her own right.

    We all know the story of the March sisters, heroines of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. But while everyone cheers on Jo March, based on Louisa herself, Amy March is often the least favorite sister. Now, it’s time to learn the truth about the real “Amy”, Louisa’s sister, May.

    Stylish, outgoing, creative, May Alcott grows up longing to experience the wide world beyond Concord, Massachusetts. While her sister Louisa crafts stories, May herself is a talented and dedicated artist, taking lessons in Boston, turning down a marriage proposal from a well-off suitor, and facing scorn for entering what is very much a man’s profession.

    Life for the Alcott family has never been easy, so when Louisa’s Little Women is published, its success eases the financial burdens they’d faced for so many years. Everyone agrees the novel is charming, but May is struck to the core by the portrayal of selfish, spoiled “Amy March.” Is this what her beloved sister really thinks of her?

    So May embarks on a quest to discover her own true identity, as an artist and a woman. From Boston to Rome, London, and Paris, this brave, talented, and determined woman forges an amazing life of her own, making her so much more than merely “The Other Alcott.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateSep 5, 2017
    ISBN9780062699619
    Author

    Elise Hooper

    A native New Englander, Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting a MA and teaching high-school literature and history. Her debut novel The Other Alcott was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. More novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. Hooper now lives in Seattle with her husband and two teenage daughters. 

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    Reviews for The Other Alcott

    4/5

    96 ratings23 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Great book and an excellent insight in to the Alcott family. Worth a read. Well read.
    • 4/5
      Well written story, interesting to learn about Alcott the artist, really enjoyed it!
    • 4/5
      Some was true life some wasn’t but wahhh the ending sucked majorly. I was after a happy ever after. Guess they really do only happen in fairy tales
    • 5/5
      I learned so much about May Alcott. Very good read.
    • 4/5
      Always loved Louisa May Alcott and The Little Women. Have visited Concord and seen May's drawings on the wall of Orchard House. I already knew the broad details of May's life but loved the way Elise Hooper really brought her and others to life. Wonderful book.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful look into the sisters relationship and how strong successful women of that era survived
    • 5/5
      The Other Alcott is May Alcott, the youngest of the 4 Alcott sisters and largely the inspiration for Amy in Little Women. I am not sure I even knew she existed until I read this book. She was a very interesting person and artist, and I enjoyed looking at some of her artwork online. The book is largely factual with many characters who really lived. I learned not only about May but also more about Louisa than I knew. If you have any interest in the Alcotts or are interested in women and art in the mid-1800s, this book is an excellent read. The author did a good job of making this historical person come to life.
    • 3/5
      Throughout much of May Alcott's life, she was in the shadow of the literary accomplishments of her old sister, Louisa. Louisa was also the primary "breadwinner" for the family requiring May to request monies for any expenditure.When May illustrations for Louisa's Little Women was publicly ridiculed, she asked Louisa for the cost of art lessons, which was still a male-dominated field. However, she also felt guilty not being able to pay her own way through her own career. Her improvement through art classes led to initial trips with Louisa and friends to Europe and eventually as an expatriate when she becomes successful in her own right. Although there was a period of estrangement between the older and younger Alcott sister, the two did eventually reconcile.Besides reading of the growth of May's art career, I was also interested in the number of luminaries that she encountered in the mid-to late 19th century. May's father was a Transcendentalist; therefore, their household was frequently visited by Emerson, Thoreau and Hawthorne. As her artistic ability improved, she was aided by a number of artist mentors, including J.M.W. Turner and fellow expatriate, Mary Cassatt. May was able to sustain herself copying and selling the former artist's works. Later, while in Paris, May admired Cassatt's courage to join the newly founded breakaway art movement known as Impressionism.If you are an artist, especially female, interested in recent art history, or interested in this artist enclave in Paris in the mid to late 19th century, you might interested in this historical fiction novel.
    • 4/5
      The poignant story of May Alcott, sister of famous author Louisa May Alcott, her life, her thoughts of her sister, and living in the shadows of her Louisa. May loved art; she loved to paint. She never seemed to "measure up" to Louisa in everyone's eyes. Louisa wrote Little Women and in her book, she portrayed May as the of Amy March, selfish and spoiled young lady. May is upset after reading the reviews for Louisa's book and she sets out to discover her true identity as an artist and a woman. She wanted to be a professional artist and is looked down upon by others who say it was a "man's profession". This book also portrays the other side of Louisa from May's point of view, that we never hear about. She shows what it was like for her to live in the shadows of a famous sister. Although a work of fiction, this is a bittersweet story of May's life which shows much research on the part of the author making this story seem real. Language...No obscene languageAdult content...no sex or adult themes. Some situations are mentioned or implied without going into detail.I received a copy of the book from the publisher for review
    • 5/5
      This is a book that needs to be read multiple times to appreciate its full value. This story, told through the eyes of May, is of the Alcott family later in life. Little Women has already been published. Louisa May Alcott has been receiving accolades from reviewers and fans alike. Bags of fan mail are routinely delivered to their Concord home. More importantly, checks are steadily coming in, as Louisa is the main income source for the family.

      In the most basic sense, this reads as a story reflecting the challenges of family life in all parts of the country. The struggle to follow one’s dream. Determining which sacrifices equate to a fair trade off. The pressures of caring for one’s family. We are immediately drawn in because the characters are relatable. We align ourselves with a certain person. How does the opinion of our loved ones affect our decisions?

      By the end of the book, we realize nothing is cut and dry. There is no right or wrong, no black or white. We live in that hazy gray area. We do our best while others scorn our efforts exclaiming we are unworthy or selfish. Even if we refuse to accept this, maybe these people are correct. As fallible humans, nothing else could be expected. May’s reflections throughout the book lead us to rethinking our opinion of one or more characters, just as she had. Maybe we can all learn from her wins and losses.
    • 5/5
      With their unique upbringing, it's no wonder that the two most ambitious sisters would be at odds some of the time. This is what Hopper capitalizes on in a wonderful historical novel detailing the life of May Alcott, post publication of Little Women. I have visited Orchard House, and been riveted by the drawings and scribblings on the wallpaper that are preserved under glass. What I missed out on was the extent of May's success and the story of her life, one that is as interesting for the time as Louisa's. In the latter part of the 19th century, the suffragist movement was just getting started and both Louisa and May benefited from access to education that other women of their day did not. (in addition to their access to famed writers of the day via their father's transcedentalist connections). If you have a spark of interest in the lives of the Alcotts, this is a must read.
    • 5/5
      A thoroughly enjoyable novel about Louisa May Alcott's sister May. This book brought many warm memories of childhood reading Louisa May Alcott's works.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. I love Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and thought this was a nice insight into the life of May Alcott.
    • 4/5
      *I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*Last week I attended an exhibition of impressionist women artists and this was the perfect novel to follow it up with. May Alcott, the lesser known sister of Louisa May Alcott (of Little Women fame), was a talented artist who exhibited her work at the exclusive Paris Salon and who studied in Europe for years to advance her art. While sadden by the book's conclusion, I am happy to know more about this fascinating 19th-century woman. I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in women artists and Impressionist Paris.
    • 4/5
      I'm not sure there are many women who don't remember reading Louisa May Alcott's Little Women at some point in their lives. The characters were based in part on Louisa's own family- Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, and of course Marmee and Father stood in for Anna, Louisa, Lizzie, May and the real-life Marmee and Father.Elise Hooper's The Other Alcott fictionalizes the story of May Alcott. The book begins with the rave reviews for the recently published Little Women. May drew the illustrations for the book, which received much harsh criticism. May was devastated by this because she wants to become an artist.Louisa isn't very understanding of May's feelings. She appears to be jealous of May's "lucky", sunny nature, claiming that everything usually always goes May's way; perhaps there is a little schadenfreude going on. May is unhappy that people have the perception that it is luck and not a function of her hard work.May wants to get out from under Louisa's shadow and study art in nearby Boston. The money that Louisa earns from her writing supports her parents and May, and she is beginning to feel constrained by this obligation.Louisa takes May to Boston with her, and then to Europe to study. May is thrilled to travel to Europe. While there, she meets many famous female artists, like Jane Gardner and Mary Cassatt, and becomes moderately successful, though it takes her a long time and much study and hard work to get there.After Louisa returns home to care for their parents, she sends letters to May insisting she come home and take her place while she writes. May is torn between her love and obligation to her family and her desire to be her own person and pursue her own career.The relationship between Louisa and May is complicated and at the heart of this terrific debut novel, and Hooper writes in her afterward that she embellished the length of the strained relationship for dramatic reasons.I particularly enjoyed reading about the art scene in Europe in the late 19th century, especially how female artists fought for recognition denied to them as the "weaker sex". May made friends easily, and there are so many interesting characters in her life that are well-drawn here by the author.People who love Little Women, as well as all the novels about wives of famous men like The Paris Wife, The Aviator's Wife and Loving Frank, will want to read the Other Alcott, as will people who enjoy stories about art and artists. I read it in one day, unwilling to put it down.
    • 3/5
      If you've read Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, you likely identified with Jo the most. Jo is the most intriguing character, spunky and creative and devoted to family. Meg is too responsible. Beth is too good. And Amy is too spoiled and selfish. But what of the women who these characters were based on, Amy in particular? Was she really as bratty as she comes off as being much of the time in Little Women? Elise Hooper's novel, The Other Alcott, looks at May Alcott, the golden, youngest sister who was the model for Louisa's Amy but who was so much more than her sister's creation.Opening with the celebration of the wonderful reviews on the publication of Little Women, May Alcott is depressed and humiliated to find that the critics, so positive about her sister's writing, are critical, in fact dismissive, of her illustrations for novel and she questions her art as a result. Eventually determining that her greatest wish is to be an artist of some acclaim despite the reviews, she vows to carry on, to search out instruction, and to be recognized for her own talent rather than being pigeonholed as Louisa's sister, or worse as the petulant and flighty Amy March. Her own drive to create is no less than her sister's. But the Alcott's circumstances, Louisa's role as sole financial support of the struggling family, and the fact that May is a woman often make it hard for her to pursue her own dreams. She does eventually find opportunities, both in Boston and in Europe to learn and create art even as she tries to temper her envy of her sister's fame and to overcome her reliance on Louisa's financial backing.Hooper has drawn May not as Amy March but as a determined and ambitious artist who sometimes chafes at the responsibility thrust upon her in regards to her family. She and sister Louisa have a relationship that feels entirely human and realistic, alternately loving and contentious. May can be resentful and feel taken advantage of but her love for her family still shines through. It is clear that while May makes personal sacrifices to tend to her family when she is called upon to do so, she also never stops pushing forward for the thing that is her very lifeblood, painting and drawing. The novel is very much stripped of the romanticism of Little Women and feels very historically real, especially when dealing with poverty and opportunities for women. The depiction of the art scene in Europe and the way that the Academie Francaise dictated public acceptance of art and conferred success on the approved artists was very well done. And May's own journey, personally and artistically is quite an interesting one indeed but the biggest theme of the novel besides May's determination is her relationship with her sister Louisa and how two talented and smart women related to and saw each other, especially in a world that didn't value women's contributions nearly as much as they should have. Fans of Little Women will undoubtedly enjoy this look into the little sister and her own not insignificant accomplishments. For another fictional take on May Alcott, compare this to Little Woman in Blue by Jeannine Atkins as well.
    • 4/5
      When I received a copy of Elise Hooper’s The Other Alcott to review, I inwardly groaned, another book showing the back of a woman looking off into the distance. I’ve been avoiding those lately. They seem to proliferate. Ms. Hooper’s novel is a prime example for heeding the maxim, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” May Alcott is vividly brought to life and I believe Alcott buffs and art lovers alike will enjoy this book. I did. The Other Alcott is a good blend of history and invention as proven by the story and the interview with the author at the novel’s conclusion. Be sure to read it. It sheds further light on the Alcott’s, the plight of women artists at the time, and the significant research the author conducted for the creation of this novel. I’ve already recommended it to a friend.
    • 4/5
      I can't believe that this is author, Elise Hooper's debut novel. It reads like it came from a seasoned professional with many best sellers under her belt. This book is unique and refreshing to visit the Alcott sisters. The ones who inspired the March sisters from Little Women. As the author pointed out there is not much known about who the real inspiration behind Amy is. I have to tell you that May is nothing like Amy. She is not spoiled. In fact; she is resilient, intelligent, caring, and talented. Plus, she did not go in search of love but love did find her. I enjoyed traveling all over with May from Rome, to London, to Paris. Actually, reading this book, I did see a bit of a different side of Louisa. I was kind of surprised to found her unsupportive of May and her endeavors. Louisa kept pursuing her dreams until she became a published writer but yet when May wanted to go out and become an artist, she was not as supportive. This book made me a fan. I can't wait to read more from Elise Hooper.
    • 2/5
      May Alcott Nieriker, who was Louisa May Alcott's youngest sister (the character Amy in Little Women was based on her) was an artist whose potential was cut far too short after May died a few weeks after childbirth. This historical fiction novel attempts to cover May's artistic life, but does not quite succeed in showing emotions or motivations. It felt very much like a series of reminiscences rather than a plot-driven story, and I was unable to engage with this novel and the people in it -- even though I'm very interested in art history and the Alcotts. It is possible this book will still appeal greatly to readers who do not know much about May Alcott's background or the artists she collaborated and/or rubbed elbows with. Thanks to the publisher and LibraryThing for sending this ARC to me via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
    • 5/5
      "Little Women" has always been one of my favorite books. During my childhood, I devoured every book I could find by Louisa May Alcott and did a term paper on her in high school (it was about how much her actual life parallels her book, "Little Women"). When I read the premise of "The Other Alcott", I was so excited to read more about my beloved Alcott family! "The Other Alcott" by Elise Hooper is about May Alcott, Louisa May Alcott's younger sister. In Louisa's book "Little Women", the character Amy is modeled after May Alcott. Amy is not always portrayed in the best light and is often the least liked sister. May is in fact much more than just the spoiled, selfish Amy. May Alcott is a brilliant artist and reaches her own level of fame and moves among the inner circle of artists of her time. This book is a fascinating look at life through May's perspective. The story takes place after "Little Women" is published. The Alcotts are often close to poverty and Louisa and May struggle to provide for themselves and their family. It is still not conventional for women to be artists or to remain unmarried--but both Louisa and May follow this less traveled path. Throughout the story we see May rise as a talented artist and how she has to work hard to make her own way and not just be known as the "other Alcott.” May struggles with the constant balance between creating art to make money and being true to herself and doing what she loves. Ms. Hooper incorporates minute historical detail and draws the reader into the world of art during this time period. There are beautiful and vivid descriptions of all the places May visits, such as Paris and England. I love that the book includes special content, including some of May's artwork and illustrations. The characters of May and Louisa are so well done that I felt like I knew them personally. I love getting to see a different side of these characters. I was surprised that Louisa didn't actually want to write "Little Women" or those types of stories and she didn't like the fame her stories brought. May's character is very optimistic and very different from Louisa’s. Louisa and May do have a difficult relationship, but at the end of the day, May misses Louisa, still wants her approval, and wants to be able to share her successes with her. This is a beautiful picture of family ties and how sometimes only family can fully appreciate your triumphs because they know where you once were and how far you've come. May's journey helps her appreciate Louisa better and she realizes the sisters have more in common than they originally thought. Content: I give this book a PG-13 rating. There is the use of some minor swear words. There is a character that falls in love with a married man. There is a scene where May is painting a nude model. Some side characters are homosexual. There are the implications that a character sleeps with her husband and a scene of the married couple lying in bed. Rating: I give this book 4.5 stars. Genre: This book is Historical FictionI want to thank Elise Hooper, William Morrow and Harper Collins for the complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255.
    • 2/5
      This is, to my mind, a YA novel about Louisa May Alcott's younger sister, May, who was the model for Amy in Little Women. It's supposed to be the story of a younger sister fighting for recognition of her own artistic talent against the almost overwhelming fame of her elder sister.However, I never really felt any sympathy for May. She seemed flighty, of only marginal talent and all too eager to let Louisa pay for everything and to overlook her own responsibilities.I'm sure it was no picnic to have Louisa as your sister, just as it was no picnic to live in the Alcott family and to have your life be fodder for Louisa's novels. But i just couldn't make myself care about May as a character. i only finished reading this because I received it as an ARC from the Library Thing web site.
    • 4/5
      I have read almost everything that Louise May Alcott has written and was always interested in her younger sister, May who wanted to be an artist. I, like May, was always carrying a sketch book when I was younger and later took many art classes. So that is why I wanted to read this book.The first thing that I noticed was that the pace was very slow, many times I felt that the story was not moving forward. This changed after the first half but it greatly cut into my enthusiasm for this book. Also, the jealousy and animosity that existed between the two sisters was very disturbing. I wondered how much of it was true. There is a section in the back that is a conversation with the author that explains what was true and what was pure fiction. But I still came away wondering if their relationship was that bad.I thought that author described the process of becoming an artist very well, May had to be very determined and hardworking and observant for her to advance. I was also surprised that May had a friendship with Mary Cassette, one of my favorite artists.I recommend this book to all who are interested in the Alcott family and what it was like for a woman to get art training in Europe including the tremendous prejudice against women artists.I received an Advanced Review Copy as a win from LibraryThing from the publishers in exchange for a fair book review. My thoughts and feelings in this review are my own.
    • 4/5
      A very enjoyable read! May Alcott is the sister of the author Louisa and is trying to make her way as an artist. Her drawings for Little Women are panned, but she persists in art instruction, taking several trips to Europe. She is faced with a lot of self-doubt and guilt over taking time away from her family, but follows her dreams and ambitions to be an accepted artist. Her relationship with Louisa is strained by not wanting to feel beholden financially to her sister, as well as sharing the care of her parents. Her life is filled with trials, tragedies and success. A real emotional roller coaster. I didn't know anything about May, and I was utterly enthralled by her story. The book seems well researched with historical notes about what the true story.