Museum Shop: Fiction Books

Enjoy these classic stories, and support Orchard House with your order. Every book includes an original Orchard House bookplate and bookmark.

Books for Children by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women : Unabridged editions

Little Women: Hardcover
Louisa May Alcott's timeless classic, based on her own family's experiences, remains as popular today as it was when it was first published in 1868.
- Illustrated Junior Library, illustrations by Louis Jambor. 643 pages. $20.99 (pictured at left)
- Illustrated Children's Library, color illustrations by Jessie Wilcox Smith, black and white illustrations by Frank Thayer Merrill. 388 pages. $12.99
- Everyman's Library, illustrations by M. E. Gray. 527 pages. $16.95

Little Women: Paperback

- Penguin Classics, edited and with an introduction by Elaine Showalter. 504 pages. $7.95

- Dover Evergreen Classic, 549 pages. $4.00 (pictured at left)

Little Women : Adapted for younger readers

Little Women: Classic Starts (pictured at left)
Sterling Publishing Company. Includes discussion questions.
Hardcover. 160 pages; 10 illustrations. $4.95.

Little Women: Vocabulary-Building Classic
(pictured at right)
Master new words while reading this timeless classic. Difficult words are highlighted on the right-hand page and defined on the left-hand page. Includes discussion questions and guidance for writing a book report.
Simon & Schuster, Paperback. 290 pages. $4.95

Dover Children's Thrift classic.
(pictured at left) Abridged and adapted for young readers. Paperback 108 pages, $2.00.

Other children’s fiction by Louisa May Alcott

The Best of Louisa May Alcott:
A Charming Illustrated Collection of Little Women, Little Men, and 24 Short Stories. Illustrated by Frank Merrill.
Stories include "My Boys," "Cupid and Chow-Chow," "Clams" (a ghost story), "Rosa's Tale" (about a horse), "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving," two Christmas stories, and "A Night" from Hospital Sketches.
Gramercy Books, Hardcover. 789 pages. $12.99.

Little Men
This sequel to Little Women tells of a remarkable school for boys at Plumfield run by Jo and Professor Bhaer.

- Little Brown & Co. (original publisher), Paperback. 236 pages. $9.99
- Puffin, Paperback, 368 pages. $4.99 (pictured at left)
- Dover, Paperback, 300 pages, $3.00.

Jo's Boys
Third in the Little Women trilogy, Jo's Boys tells the stories of the boys of Plumfield, now grown and seeking their ways in the world.

- Little Brown & Co. (original publisher). Paperback. 316 pages. $8.95
- Puffin, Paperback, 350 pages. $4.99
- Dover, Paperback, 284 pages, $3.00. (pictured at left)

Eight Cousins
A staff favorite, this lesser-known work focuses on Rose Campbell's experiences growing up with her seven male cousins and her unconventional Uncle Alec.
- Little Brown & Co. (original publisher) 236 pages. $9.99
- Dover. Paperback, $4.95 (pictured at left)

Rose in Bloom
The sequel to Eight Cousins, focusing on Rose's entrance into the adult world and her experiences with love and loss.
- Puffin, Paperback, 350 pages. $5.99 (pictured at right)

An Old-Fashioned Girl
The encounters of a country girl with city life, and her struggle to maintain her "old-fashioned" values in a modern world.
- Puffin, Paperback, 345 pages, $5.99. (pictured at left)
- Dover. Paperback, $4.95

A long-lost, newly republished treasure by Louisa:

Kate's Choice
illustrated by C. Michael Dudash
Hardcover, 128 pages. $14.99
"According to her father's wish, Kate was to live for a while with the families of each of her four uncles before she decided with which she would make her home...."

Flower Fables: The 150th Anniversary Edition

A limited commemorative printing of the first book ever published by Louisa May Alcott, in 1854. Placed by Louisa into Marmee's Christmas stocking, this book is a touching reminder of childhood fantasies, a young woman's hopes, and the sustenance of a mother's love.

First re-printing by Applewood Books limited to only 500 copies.

$15.95, plus postage and handling.

(Also available: Kristina Joyce's beautiful custom-designed notecard featuring Louisa's Christmas 1854 note to her mother about Flower Fables!)

Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories
edited by Daniel Shealy
Paperback, 392 pages. $34.95
A complete collection of Louisa May Alcott's fantasy stories, suitable for both children and adults.

The Wisdom of Little Women, collection of topically arranged quotes drawn from the book, showing how its insights appeal to readers through the ages. $6.95

Stories for Children about Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May & Mr. Thoreau's Flute
by Julie Dunlap and Marybeth Lorbiecki; illustrated by Mary Azarian
$9.95
A story of young Louisa's adventures with Henry David Thoreau, illustrated with beautiful color woodcuts by a Caldecott Medal-winning artist.

Little Women Next Door
by Sheila Solomon Klass
Hardcover, 188 pages. $15.95
Louisa befriends a shy girl next door while living at the utopian community of Fruitlands. Suitable for ages 8-12.

Fruitlands
by Gloria Whelan (National Book Award winner)
Hardcover, 117 pages. $15.99
A fictional account of a young Louisa's experience at the Transcendental utopian community Fruitlands. Suitable for ages 8 - 12.

Books for Adults by Louisa May Alcott (novels)

Hospital Sketches.
Paperback, 96 pages. $7.95.
Louisa's fictionalized account of her experiences as "Nurse Tribulation Periwinkle" during the Civil War.

Work
introduction by Joy S. Kasson
Paperback, 344 pages. $14.00
The story of a young woman, Christie, who hires herself out as a servant to a wealthy family, and her trials as she tries to make her way in the world. Somewhat of a forum for Louisa's views on social reform, this book contains strong themes of women's rights, social justice, and community.

Moods
edited by Sarah Elbert
Paperback, 284 pages. $21.95
A young woman is caught in a love triangle when she realizes she's married the wrong man. The two men are modeled on Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, and the woman on Louisa.

The Inheritance
edited and with an introduction and notes by Joel Myerson and Daniel Shealy
Paperback, 147 pages. $14.00
Recently re-discovered in manuscript form, this book has been called Louisa's "first" novel, written when she was seventeen years old. It tells the story of Edith Adelon, a poor orphan who finds family and fortune in the most unlikely of places.

Books for Adults by Louisa May Alcott (anthologies)

Louisa May Alcott’s Civil War
With an introduction by Jan Turnquist, Director of Orchard House.
Paperback, 272 pages, $17.95
For the first time, Louisa May Alcott's Civil War stories are published in a single collection. During the war she worked with home front relief organizations, served as an Army nurse, and wrote stories for popular journals such as Commonwealth and Atlantic Monthly. Includes the full text of Hospital Sketches, nine short stories, and excerpts from her Civil War journals.

Alternative Alcott
edited and with an introduction by Elaine Showalter
Paperback, 462 pages. $23.95
Selected works showing Louisa May Alcott's range as an author.

Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories
edited by Daniel Shealy
Paperback, 392 pages. $34.95
A complete collection of Louisa May Alcott's fantasy stories, suitable for both children and adults.

Louisa May Alcott: Selected Fiction
edited by Daniel Shealy, Madeleine B. Stern, and Joel Myerson; introduction by Madeleine Stern
Paperback, 478 pages. $19.95
Selected short stories, excerpts from novels, and autiobiographical sketches chosen by three leading Alcott scholars.

Louisa May Alcott on Race, Sex, and Slavery
edited and with an introduction by Sarah Elbert. 101 pages. $19.95
A collection of Louisa May Alcott's thoughts on controversial issues as shown through her fiction.

Whispers in the Dark
edited and with an introduction by Elizabeth Lennox Keyser
Paperback, 228 pages. $18.00
A collection of short stories and novel excerpts.

The Portable Louisa May Alcott
edited and with an introduction by Elizabeth Lennox Keyser
Paperback, 612 pages. $16.95
Selected short fiction and letters; excerpts from novels and journals. Includes the full text of Moods and Transcendental Wild Oats.

Scribbling Women: Short Stories by 19th-Century American Women
edited and with an introduction by Elaine Showalter
Paperback, 515 pages. $22.95
Short stories by famous woman authors such as Louisa May Alcott, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, and Willa Cather.

Novels for Adults about Louisa May Alcott and her contemporaries

Miss Alcott's E-mail: Yours for Reforms of All Kinds.
by Kit Bakke
Hardcover, 255 pages, $24.95

“ Brimming with meticulous research and unusual insights, Miss Alcott's E-mail brings Louisa May Alcott back into our midst, in all her light and dark complexity. Kit Bakke's fresh new look at Louisa May reminds us that this spirited and brave reformer was by no means a little woman.” — Geraldine Brooks, winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel March.
Read about the premiere of this book at Orchard House.

Louisa and the Country Bachelor
by Anna Maclean
Paperback, 304 pages. $5.99

The second of the “Louisa May Alcott Mysteries” by Anna Maclean (aka Jeanne Mackin). Set in 1855, with the Alcotts in Walpole, New Hampshire, the story has our inquisitive young writer embarking on a tangled trek to investigate the suspicious circumstances of a young Dutchman’s murder,

Louisa and the Missing Heiress
by Anna Maclean
Paperback, 304 pages. $5.99

Louisa is cast in the role of amateur sleuth, investigating crimes more heinous than anything she can imagine in her "blood and thunder" romances. First in a series.

The Glory Cloak: A Novel of Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton
by Patricia O'Brien
Paperback, 368 pages. $14.00
A story of women’s friendships set against the tumultuous background of the Civil War. Inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s little-known account in Hospital Sketches of her attachment as a Civil War nurse to a dying soldier. It weaves characters both fictional and real to tell the story of women who, still held by Victorian constraints, are caught up in the vast sweep of change of their war-torn era.

Mr. Emerson’s Wife, by Orchard House Staff member Amy Belding Brown is an historical novel about Mrs. Ralph Waldo Emerson that beautifully examines the emotional landscape of love and marriage.

As Lidian lives in the shadow of one of the most famous men of the 19th century, she struggles to maintain her moral authority and inner strength. In the course of the book, she deals with overwhelming social demands and faces devastating personal loss to finally discover the deepest meaning of love.

336 pages. Paperback, $13.95

March: A Novel, by Geraldine Brooks.
2006 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction!

Brooks has crafted an intriguing work of historical fiction that is a “parallel universe” to Little Women, telling the tale from the perspective of the heretofore absent Mr. March. Exhaustive research on the real “Father of Little Women,” A. Bronson Alcott, and the realities of The Civil War combine in a story that not only brings the era alive, but breathes life into a formerly unknown character. A must-read for Civil War and historical fiction buffs, as well as adult admirers of Little Women.
304 pages. Paperback: $15.00