Written almost 20 years before Little Women, a new piece by Louisa May Alcott has been published for the first time. Titled, ‘Aunt Nellie’s Diary,’ this previously unfinished story focuses on the titular Aunt Nellie in a series of diary entries as she watches her niece Annie and another girl, Isabel compete over a man.
Alcott was only 17 when she wrote this, and scholars of her work like Dan Shealy are impressed with how well she writes older characters despite her young age at the time. “Here was someone who managed to get into the psychology of someone much older than her…She created a character who was independent and way ahead of her time.”
Unfortunately, the story cuts off mid-sentence, with a lot of loose ends. Strand Magazine plans to ask readers to submit their own endings, with the winning ending being published in a future edition.
Shealy said: “Good stories always keep readers wanting to turn the pages and Alcott, even in her late teens, knew this well. Aunt Nellie’s Diary, over 170 years after it was penned, now takes its rightful place among Alcott’s earliest works, revealing the promise and talent that would blossom in her celebrated literary career.”
Little Women is what Alcott is most known for, but reading from a young Alcott in a time where women’s rights weren’t particularly great would be utterly fascinating. To see what happened before her magnum opus can peak the curiosity of any Alcott fan.