LECTURES

Hear acclaimed author and Alcott descendant, Eve LaPlante discuss her latest work, "Marmee & Louisa," with noted Alcott scholar and Library fellow, Lisa Stepanski.

Meticulously researched from public documents archived at Harvard’s Houghton Library to a cache of previously unseen private papers found in a house in western Maine, Eve LaPlante masterfully sheds a new light on the life of Louisa May Alcott and her mother, mentor, muse, and inspiration, Abigail.

Hear how LaPlante reveals how, through investigation into overlooked archives and new documentary discoveries, she was able to debunk the view that the primary influence on Louisa’s literary ambition and achievement was her father, the philosopher Bronson Alcott. Instead, her mother emerges as a prime force in Louisa’s intellectual development.

There will be a book signing after the event.