Review of The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper

Hello Readers,

Little Women is such a beloved story and one I actually read it for the first time about 4 years ago. I am not sure what took me so long to read it because I adored the entire story. I fell in love with each character and the writing was absolutely charming. Before reading The Other Alcott I was not aware that Louisa May Alcott had based the March sisters on her own sisters. The spunky and selfish Amy March is based on Louisa’s sister May. I don’t know about you but I would be quite put out if I was going to be forever remembered as the conceited Amy March who slept with a clothespin on her nose in the hopes of making it smaller. I also wouldn’t want to go down in history as being remembered for burning my sisters manuscript. Whether May wanted to or not I think she will go down in history as being equally May Alcott and Amy March. 

The Other Alcott is a fictional retelling of the life of May Alcott. All of Louisa May Alcott's works have been published and countless biographies have been written about her life but little is known about her artist sister May Alcott. May is a vibrant woman who loves art and beautiful things. Growing up in a family that is not well off did not stop May from dreaming of beauty and putting beauty in her art. Louisa put May’s drawings in her novel Little Women when it was published but her art work came back with very poor reviews. Instead of letting those negative reviews decide her future May decides that she is going to push forward and become the artist that will prove all of those negative reviews wrong. May loves art like Louisa loves writing, but she needs to figure out how much she wants to give of herself to her art. Because of the poor finances the Alcott’s were all very dependent on Louisa’s writing salary, and through Louisa’s salary May is able to pursue her love of art. However being dependent on her sister feels like it comes at a price, and May must decide how much she wants to pay for her dependence on her sister. Family obligations continue to pull May back home and May is forced to continually put her dreams on hold. As the story unfolds May must decide what part art is going to play in her life. Will she make her desire to become an artist her number one priority or will she just let art be a hobby instead of her main pursuit. As she attempts to discover who she is and what she truly wants out of life May has some amazing opportunities to travel the world. She strives to push herself to figure out what kind of artist she truly is. She is always keenly aware of the fact that being a woman and an artist is not going to come easily and she must fight for every success she might want to earn. 

Elise Hoopers debut The Other Alcott is and engaging book and brings to light a character I previously had not thought very much about. I felt like her portrayal of each character felt real and accurate. I never felt like Hooper took to much allowance with my beloved characters. The book was so well researched and I loved learning about the other famous artists of the time. 

I highly recommend this book for readers who love getting a behind the scenes look at beloved stories and characters. This is also a great read for those who enjoy reading about strong independent women. 

Overall rating - 3/5 Stars

Thank you to William Morrow Paperbacks for supplying me with an advance reading copy of The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper. I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

The Other Alcott

Author: Elise Hooper

Release Date: September 5, 2017

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

ISBN-10: 0062645331

Happy Reading,

Rachael