The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

A richly imagined, remarkably written story of the woman who created Little Women—and how love changed her in ways she never expected.

Countless readers have fallen in love with Little Women. But how could the author—who never had a romance—write so convincingly of love and heartbreak without experiencing it herself?

Deftly mixing fact and fiction, Kelly O’Connor McNees returns to the summer of 1855, when vivacious Louisa is twenty-two and bursting with a desire to free herself from family and societal constraints so she can do what she loves most. Stuck in small-town New Hampshire, she meets Joseph Singer, and as she opens her heart, Louisa finds herself torn between a love that takes her by surprise and her dream of independence as a writer in Boston. The choice she must make comes with a steep price that she will pay for the rest of her life.“Devotees of Little Women will flock to this story with pleasure.”—The Washington Post

“A charming novel, grounded in scholarship and fact but relying on imagination for the romance and fun.”—Minneapolis Star TribuneKelly O'Connor McNees is an editor and the critically acclaimed author of The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott and In Need of a Good Wife. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.