Local author spins fictional tale of Louisa May Alcott

Chicago author Kelly O'Connor McNees will be at various suburban locations this week to discuss her first historical novel, "The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott." The book was published in April by Penguin Books. It focuses on both the factual life of author Louisa May Alcott (1832-88), best known for her beloved book "Little Women," and a fictional account of a single summer in Alcott's life - a summer when Alcott (who never married in real life) meets a great love.

O'Connor McNees took some time to talk about "The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott" and what she learned about the famed author, whose writings remain so popular today.

Q. How did you choose author Louisa May Alcott as the subject of your first historical novel? Were you always a fan of her writings?A. I had always loved "Little Women," and had read it many times over the years. It's one of those stories that you see differently as you get older. But I had never really read anything else by Louisa May Alcott, and had never known much about her life. I picked up a biography about her a couple of years ago, and I found out all kinds of fascinating things about her. I thought she would make a great subject of a novel.Q. What were some of the most interesting things you learned about Alcott in your research?A. Louisa must have been very entertaining. She was very funny in her letters - sort of "quippy." And she was very determined. One of the things I learned about her was that she would go into a frenzy of writing - writing for hours and hours or days on end. Then she would collapse and not work for weeks. She called it her "vortex."Q. Your book is set in the summer of 1855. How did you choose that specific time frame?A. We don't know too much about what the Alcott family (Louisa, her parents and three sisters) did that summer, but we do know that they moved to Walpole, New Hampshire, then. So because we didn't know very much about that particular summer, it was a good space for me to create a story. But many things that are factual about Louisa - her habits, her personality, her temperament, her ambitions - are there in my novel.Q. How deeply did you have to delve into Alcott's real life while working on your manuscript?A. Even though I knew I was going to be writing a novel and creating the Louisa May Alcott of my imagination, it was important to me to be true to who she really was and to try and see the situation I was putting her in through her eyes. I did a lot of research about that time period. And it was important for me to read the books that I knew Louisa May Alcott had actually read during that summer of 1855. She kept careful track of those books in her journals. So I read her journals again and again. I would have to stop my writing and go back to Louisa's own words.Q. Louis May Alcott never married in real life. Do we know if she ever really was in love?A. Did she ever have a love affair? We never really knew. But I was intrigued. I knew that Louisa had burned some of her letters and journals. What was in those letters and journals?Q. So you created a romance for her in your book?A. Part of what I was curious about was who was the real-life inspiration for the character of Laurie (a male love interest) in "Little Women." There were some names that surfaced over the years, but I was unconvinced. And so the idea of a love affair came to my mind.Q. What do you want readers to take with them from reading "The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott?"A. I hope they will think about "Little Women" in a new way and also think about the complex and interesting woman behind "Little Women."Q. What is your next writing project?A. I am working on another historical novel, set in the Great Lakes region in 1835. It has to do with steam ship travel. There is a Chicago connection to the story, and it was a time when Chicago had just 435 people in its population.False13862000"Little Women" author Louisa May AlcottCourtesy of Louisa May Alcott's Orchard HouseFalse <p class="factboxheadblack">Kelly O'Connor McNees</p><p class="News"><b>Local appearances:</b> 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, at Anderson's Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville. O'Connor McNees will read from and sign copies of her book. O'Connor McNees will also be at the Glen Ellyn Public Library at 400 Duane St., Glen Ellyn, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, as part of Glen Ellyn Book Fest 2010. There, she will join Glen Ellyn author Melanie Benjamin (author of "Alice I Have Been") to discuss writing about historical figures. </p><p class="News"><b>More information:</b> Call Anderson's Bookshop at (630) 355-2665 for information on the Wednesday, June 16 appearance. Visit <a href="http://downtownglenellyn.com" target="new">downtownglenellyn.com</a> or call (630) 469-0879 for information on the Glen Ellyn appearance. For information on author Louisa May Alcott, visit <a href="http://louisamayalcott.org" target="new">louisamayalcott.org</a>. </p>