Om forfatteren

Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer and poet better known as the author of the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many of the well-known intellectuals of the day, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used the pen name A. M. Barnard, under which she wrote novels for young adults that focused on spies and revenge.

Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still a popular children's novel today. It has been adapted to film several times.

Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She died from a stroke, two days after her father died, in Boston on March 6, 1888.

Om forfatteren

Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer and poet better known as the author of the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many of the well-known intellectuals of the day, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used the pen name A. M. Barnard, under which she wrote novels for young adults that focused on spies and revenge.

Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still a popular children's novel today. It has been adapted to film several times.

Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She died from a stroke, two days after her father died, in Boston on March 6, 1888.

Bag en maske

eller En kvindes magt

Den amerikanske forfatterinde Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) er i mest kendt for at have skrevet den udødelige klassiker Little Women(da. Pigebørn) fra 1869, der endnu engang er blevet genindspillet til det store lærred.  Men Alcott skrev også “sensationsromaner” eller “Blood and Thunder tales”, som hun selv kaldte dem. Hovedværket blandt disse er den psykologiske spændingsroman Bag en maske eller en kvindes magt, der udkom i1866underder pseudonymet A. M. Barnard som en ugentlig føljetonhistorie i avisen Flag of Our Union. Selvom Bag en maske er en af ​​Alcotts mindre kendte værker, er det stadig en vigtig litterær perle i hendes samlede oeuvre, der fortjener at blive læst i en ny dansk oversættelse. For i den korte fortælling gemmer der sig en roman om romantik, magtspil og seksuelle intriger, som samtidig kan betragtes som et direkte angreb på tidens opfattelse af klasseforhold og kønsroller. 

Romanen omhandler den unge, fascinerende Jean Muir, der ansættes som guvernante hos overklassefamilien Coventry. Jean Muir er en mislykket skuespillerinde, hvis scenekarriere i Frankrig er et overstået kapitel, på grund af hendes falmende ynde – selvom hun kun er 30 år. Men med sine skuespillerevner og forståelse for selvpræsentationens kraft får hun, forklædt med både paryk og falske tænder, hele huset til at falde i svime over hendes yndige og smittende væsen. Snart kæmper samtlige af husets mænd om hendes gunst og der går ikke lang tid før mestermanipulatoren Jean Muir har fået spillet alle beboere ud mod hinanden.  Et nervepirrende magtspil udfolder sig, hvor det bliver sværere og sværere at gennemskue, om Jane Muir er romanens heltinde eller skruppelløse skurk. 

Bag en maske er andet bind i serien Udenlandsk fugl, der fokuserer på oversættelser af kvindelige forfatteres horrorlitteratur og dens mange afarter fra perioden 1880-1940. I serien er udkommet Charlotte Perkins Gilmans Det gule tapet, der har fået stor omtale og fem stjerner i både Berlingske og Politiken. Seriens ønske er at bringe de kvindelige horrorforfattere frem i lyset og ændre på den gængse forestilling om, at der ikke fandtes kvindelige forfattere inden for genren, hvilket har vist sig at være ganske forkert. Serien afspejler samtidens interesse dels for feministisk litteratur og dels for en revurdering af genrelitteraturen. 

Romanen er oversat og med efterord af Hans Peter Madsen 
152,50  DKK
Køb trykt bog
 
Udgave1
Trykt sideantal192
Udgivelsesdato06 okt. 2021
Udgivet afEscho
Sprogdan
ISBN trykt bog9788794026109