Although the publication of Little Women in 1868 earned Louisa May Alcott great renown, for a very long period thereafter she was thought of as a writer of children's books and considered -- at best -- a minor figure in the American literary canon. Now, at the end of the twentieth century, Alcott's vast body of work is being celebrated alongside that of the greatest American writers.

The Portable Louisa May Alcott samples the entire spectrum of Alcott's writings: her novels, novellas, children's stories, sensationalist fiction, gothic tales, memoirs, letters, and journals. Presenting her more daring works, such as Moods and Behind a Mask, alongside the more familiar heroines, and including a selection of personal writing, this singular collection shows the relationship not only between Little Women and Alcott's family life but also between Little Women and the sensation fiction -- and how this apparent dichotomy illuminates who Alcott was. Edited by award-winning Alcott scholar Elizabeth Lennox Keyser, The Portable Louisa May Alcott offers readers a wide-ranging portrait of this influential writer.