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A Double Life: Newly Discovered Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott
A Double Life Newly Discovered Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott Author:Louisa May Alcott, Madeleine Stern (Editor) As the creator of 'Little Women's' beloved March family, Louisa May Alcott has touched the lives of millions of readers. Yet before that success, Alcott's seemingly boundless creative energy was frustrated by the society she would later describe so beautifully. Acting without the knowledge of her contemporaries and driven by an i... more »magination that ranged far beyond peaceful New England, Alcott rebelled against the literary conventions of her day. In tales published anonymously in the "tabloids" of the mid-nineteenth century, she confronted subjects considered too shocking for the book-reading public. Five of those thrillers, recently discovered to be the work of Louisa May Alcott, are collected for the first time in this volume.
In these compelling tales of mystery and melodrama we are drawn into a world of shadows through Alcott's narrative skill. Here we find the darker side of Alcott's imaginings, a world of the exotic and the bizarre. In "A Pair of Eyes" she explores the clash between one man's artistic obsession and his wife's mysterious power of mesmerism. And in "The Fate of the Forrests" three lives are irrevocably transformed by a binding prophecy and the rites of an ancient eastern religion. Whether making the ultimate sacrifice in "A Double Tragedy" or demanding absolute control in "Taming a Tartar," Alcott's spirited heroines emerge victorious from the continuing struggle for control in the human relationship.
Louisa May Alcott is above all a master storyteller, and these tales offer us an opportunity to enjoy her work anew. We are left with a new vision of the author, a deeper understanding of her many-faceted personality. And finally, we are left with the certainty that Alcott truly did lead a double life.« less