Staff Book and Media Recommendations

Eden's Outcasts

John Matteson

In Eden's Outcasts, John Matteson poignantly captures the unique and often strained bond between Louisa May Alcott and her father. Amos Bronson Alcott had a significant influence on the writings of his daughter. Not only was he an innovative writer and philosopher in his own right, but he associated with other artists, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. Alcott absorbed the creativity of these artists and the artists included in the family library. As one of the proprietors of the transcendentalist movement, Bronson's ideology can be seen in works like Little Women. Alcott shared her father's socio-political passions, yet as alike as their personalities were, they often came into conflict. Her writings were considerably better known than her father's and she took on the role for providing for the family when Bronson was unable. Throughout her life, Alcott strived to balance the role of patriarchy while exerting her own feminist point of view.

John Matteson seamlessly executes the daunting task of a double biography, constructing the work with care and insight. He examines the tenants of transcendental thinking and the climate of the nineteenth century that shaped this dynamic family and their imaginations. ~ Amy Merill

Reviewed November 2009