Louisa May Alcott: 10 quotes on her birthday

Louisa May Alcott, author of the beloved novel, "Little Women," was born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pa. She grew up around transcendentalist writers such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who were family friends. Much of her schooling came from the instruction of her philosopher father, along with some informal lessons from the neighboring transcendentalists. In 1851, Alcott began writing her own work, publishing poems, short stories, and tales with the pen name Flora Fairfield. In 1865 that she started to use her own name for her work and with the enormous popularity of "Little Women" (1869-1870) she became financially independent. In the following years, Alcott published a number of novels and short stories, generally focused on the younger generation; these novels include, "Little Men" (1871), "Eight Cousins" (1875), and "Jo's Boys" (1886). In addition, she wrote several adult novels, which include "Work" (1873), and "A Modern Mephistopheles" (1875). None of her adult works ever reached the popularity of her young adult novels. Alcott, like many of the female writers of her time, was interested in addressing women’s issues in her writing. By the time she died, Alcott had published more than 30 books and left a lasting impression on the American literary tradition.