“He was neither rich nor great, young nor handsome, - in no respect what is called fascinating, imposing or brilliant; and yet he was as attractive as a genial fire, and people seemed to gather about him as naturally as about a warm hearth.”

American novelist, short story writer, and poet

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. Raised in New England by transcendentalist parents, she wrote in the 19th century and is best known for Little Women and its sequels. Her most familiar work is Little Women, first published in 1868, followed by Good Wives, Little Men, and Jo's Boys. She began writing young, encouraged by her family, and grew up among prominent intellectuals such as Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau.