American Bloomsbury

I finally (!) finished American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever. She describes the life and times of the Transcendentalists, and sheds light on some of the real-life individuals and events that gave Louisa May Alcott the background for Little Women.

I can say that I enjoyed the book. It made the characters from those rather stiff, ancient photographs seem much more interesting to me than how they tend to be presented in history and literature classes.

Ms. Cheever writes elegantly about the people and their lifestyle. She also describes her visits to some of their haunts and gives the reader rather moving descriptions of how these places have changed over time.