Louisa raised Lulu until her own death ten years later, when Lulu was sent back to her father. May wanted Lulu to be sent to Louisa in the event of here death.

But May died seven weeks later, Wikipedia says from childbed fever, Hooper says from cerebral spinal meningitis. In November of 1879, May gave birth to a daughter named after Louisa but called Lulu. She met and married Ernest Nieriker, a Swiss tobacco merchant and violinist, in 1878. “Her paintings were exhibited in the Paris Salons of 18, major accomplishments for an artist of the era.” She wrote a book titled Studying Art Abroad, and How to do it Cheaply. May continued along a more traditional route. Mary eventually became a well-known Impressionist, but the movement was controversial at first. She met John Ruskin and several other “women artists languishing in the margins of the historical record.” She became friends with Mary Cassatt during the beginnings of the Impressionist movement. They were prohibited from traveling to Paris at that time due to war, but a few years later May traveled to Paris on her own and continued her studies. After some curmudgeonly grumbling, Louisa agreed.Ī few years later, Louisa, May, and another friend traveled to England, where Louisa wrote and May explored and took lessons. May decided she needed more instruction, so she approached Louisa about living with her in Boston and taking art lessons there. Praise was high for Louisa’s book, but not so kind for May’s illustrations. The book begins just after Little Women has been published and the Alcott family received the first reviews. The Other Alcott is Elise Hooper’s attempt to bring May’s story to the forefront via fiction. May probably would have gone further in her career, but she died at the age of 39. Not many people know that her younger sister, Abigail May (who went by May and is Amy’s counterpart in LW) had some success as an artist. Louisa May Alcott has been famous for hundreds of years as the author of Little Women.

The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper