Work
A Story of Experience
(Author) Louisa May AlcottWork: A Story of Experience, first published in 1873, is a semi-autobiographical novel by Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, set in the times before and after the American Civil War. It is one of "several nineteenth-century novels [which] uncovers the changes in women's work in the new industrial era, as well as the dilemmas, tensions, and the meaning of that work". The story depicts the struggles of a young woman trying to support herself. The main character, Christie Devon, works outside the home in a variety of different jobs, but the end of her story marks "the beginning of a new career as a voice and activist for other working women". The character David Sterling is loosely based on Alcott's friend, Henry David Thoreau. (Wikipedia.org)
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was a celebrated American novelist, poet, and short story writer, widely recognized for her novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871), and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her parents, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott, who were prominent transcendentalists, she grew up surrounded by some of the era's most influential thinkers, including Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. Encouraged by her family, Louisa began her writing journey at a young age.