The Alcott family moved an exhausting twenty-two times in thirty years before settling into Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, which became the setting for Louisa May Alcott’s (1832–1888) semi autobiographical novel Little Women. She certainly deserves a special award for enduring so much change.
Louisa’s father Amon Bronson was an intellectual and educator but he could not earn a decent living. Financial pressures caused the family to move frequently. Louisa turned to writing and she and her sisters worked as teachers, companions and governesses to contribute to the family’s finances.
How did Louisa feel being constantly uprooted? With each move, she would have undertaken the reluctant ritual of packing up belongings and keepsakes to move to the next dwelling. It would have been emotional draining and difficult to keep up basic social appearances with family and friends. This constant uncertainty would have influenced her desire for financial independence and her creative drive to support herself writing articles, novels, novelettes and short stories.
Alcott struggled to find work at times but her commitment to supporting her family was unwavering. One of the consequences of moving frequently can be that we focus less on the physical and material world and more on ideas and our imagination. But moving frequently can also train us to be curious and alert to the world as we try to make sense of our new surroundings. Alcott brought both qualities to her life and writing. For me, she is a newcomer’s inspiration.
‘I like good strong words that mean something…’
– Louisa May Alcott
