Flower Fables: A Quick Read edition
About this ebook
This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter.
- Reading time of the complete text: about 3 hours
- Reading time of the summarized text: 7 minutes
"Flower Fables," also known as "Queen Aster," was the first published work by Louisa May Alcott. It was released on December 9, 1854. The book is a collection of imaginative stories that Alcott had originally written six years earlier for Ellen Emerson, the daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson. The initial edition of the book consisted of 1600 copies. Although Alcott believed it sold well, she only received around $35 from the publisher, George Briggs. "Flower Fables" is available as a public domain audiobook on LibriVox and can be found on Project Gutenberg. For further reading on Louisa May Alcott and her relationship with her father, John Matteson's book "Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and her Father" is recommended.
About the author
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet known for her novel "Little Women" and its sequels. Raised in New England by transcendentalist parents, she grew up among intellectuals such as Emerson and Thoreau. Alcott began receiving critical success in the 1860s and sometimes used pen names to write lurid stories for adults. "Little Women" was well-received and remains popular today, adapted into plays, films, and TV shows. Alcott was also active in reform movements like temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke just two days after her father's death. Alcott's early life was shaped by her father's strict views on education and her mother's desire to redress wrongs done to women. Poverty forced Alcott to work from an early age, and writing became her creative outlet. She served as a nurse during the Civil War and wrote about her experiences in "Hospital Sketches." Alcott achieved further success with "Little Women" and its sequel "Good Wives." She died at the age of 55, leaving behind a legacy as a feminist and influential author.
