I read Little Women in fourth grade, and was completely and totally mesmerized.  It was the first book that made me feel like I was living inside the story while I read it, because I was so emotionally invested in the characters.  I’d enjoyed reading up until then, but Little Women is the book that made me a reader, and it’s still one of my all time favorites.

Little Women was also the book that sparked my interested in writers.  The woman behind the Little Women is just as interesting as the book itself.  Louisa May Alcott was a student of several members of the Transcendental Club, an abolitionist, and an advocate for women’s rights.  She died at the age of 55, but wrote over 270 books in her lifetime.

I love that Kelly O’Connor McNees has written a novel about what could have happened in Louisa May Alcott’s life to inspire the ending to Little Women.

Here’s part of the description:

“In her debut novel, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, Kelly O’Connor McNees deftly mixes fact and fiction as she imagines a summer lost to history, carefully purged from Louisa’s letters and journals, a summer that would change the course of Louisa’s writing career—and inspire the story of love and heartbreak between Jo and Teddy “Laurie” Laurence, Jo’s devoted neighbor and kindred spirit.”

Here’s the trailer:

And here’s what reviewers are saying about The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott:

“…The Lost Summer is the kind of romantic tale to which Alcott herself was partial, one in which love is important but not a solution to life’s difficulties. Devotees of Little Women will flock to this story with pleasure.” 

“… McNees deftly combines historic figures and documented aspects of Louisa’s life with speculations about what might have been. Fans of Little Women may be first in line to read the novel, but the book will also appeal to others who enjoy historical romance.”

– Library Journal

Check out Kelly’s website, and follow her on Twitter!