This is the third and last Louisa May Alcott biography I own (see the others here and here) and it was also the hardest to write about. It's riddled with errors both factual (e.g. Elizabeth Alcott is referred to at one point as the youngest sister, though like her fictional counterpart she was actually the third of four) and technical (commas occasionally roam away from where they belong and make a home for themselves wherever they land.)
But irritating as they are, the errors pale in comparison to the author's refusal to focus on her purported subject. Instead, a varied cast of historical figures (Thoreau, Emerson, Walt Whitman, Henry James, Dorothea Dix, John Brown; the list goes on) as well as Alcott's sisters, mother and friends all march onstage to support the real star of the show: Bronson Alcott, whom the author clearly loathes, nevertheless basks in the limelight while poor Louisa is relegated to the wings. And while he was interesting enough in his own right, and books could be and have been written about him and his relationship with his famous daughter, she deserves top billing in a book with her name on the cover.
The focus on Bronson and his theories is particularly odd in a narrative that also spends significant time on the issue of women's rights, both now and in 19th-century New England. What little space Louisa is alloted in the book repeatedly mentions her support of what we'd refer to today as a feminist agenda, though this seems entirely based on her desire to support her family and her choosing not to get married (indeed, it may have been practical and not philosophical concerns that kept her single.)
So to sum up: my primary objection to this book is that, with a subtitle of "A Personal Biography", it is abundantly clear that the only person whose thoughts, ideals and feelings matter to the author is herself.
Author: Susan Cheever
Potentially objectionable content: the author's constant speculation on most characters' sexual orientation
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