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Journalism of Courage
Fans of Louisa May Alcott are in for a treat as unfinished work of the Little Women author was published for the first time.
Titled, Aunt Nellie’s Diary, the story unfolds from the point of view of a single woman who looks after her teenage orphaned niece, Annie. Things take a turn when Annie’s friend comes to stay with them, unsettling her aunt Nellie.
“Isabel is not what I thought her. I fear under a fine gay manner of a light laughing face she conceals a cold unfeeling heart, bent only on the accomplishment of her wishes,” writes Alcott in the unfinished story.
US literary magazine The Strand published the story and is looking for writers to complete it.
“She was ahead of her time in many respects, from being a feminist and abolitionist. Fans will enjoy the idyllic life portrayed in the novel with picnics, and masked balls, which is a far cry from the life most of are leading today,” Andrew Gulli, The Strand’s editor was quoted as saying.
The unfinished work, written in 1849, is a part of a collection of the author’s papers in Houghton Library at Harvard University. The report quotes Alcott scholar Daniel Shealy, who shares that the work “reveals the influences that sparked Alcott’s imagination and shows us an emerging talent on the cusp of a promising career”.
Comprising of 9000 words, the manuscript was written as diary entries when Alcott was 17.
The news comes after Alcott’s celebrated coming-of-age 1868 novel was adapted into a film by Greta Gerwig. Starring a host of actors like Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern among others, the film received rave reviews from critics. It also refreshed the significance and relevance of Alcott’s novel.
