Louisa May Alcott is known universally. Yet during her youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson-eminent teacher and friend of Emerson and Thoreau. He desired perfection, for the world and for his family.
Louisa challenged him with her mercurial moods and yearnings for money and fame. The other prize she deeply coveted —her father's understanding-seemed hardest to win. While the personalities of father and daughter threatened to drive them apart, their struggles to find beauty and justice continually reunited them. This story of Bronson and Louisa's tense yet loving relationship adds dimension to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters.