Alcott is mostly remembered for her wholesome books for children, but she shows another side with her set of melodramatic and suspenseful stories. Many are tragic, while a few have happy endings, but all will keep a reader interested

This is an absolutely breathtaking collection of twenty-nine thrillers from Louisa May Alcott. Each story that I read kept me up until the wee hours of the morning because they were so good! And after I was done reading them, I was still thinking about them for days on end. Powerful women, betrayal, wards/guardians, romance, murder... each plays a delectable part in these brilliant novellettes. You have the masterfully manipulative Jean Muir in the famous story "Behind a Mask: Or a Woman's Power", the admirable villain in "A Nurse's Story", the wonderful Russian/Parisian love story of "Taming a Tartar", the heroic villainess in "The Mysterious Key, and What it Opened", an exquisite character study in "A Marble Woman: or, The Mysterious Model", dark tragedy and hints of incest in "A Whisper in the Dark", and the shockingly villainous hero in "La Jeune; or Actress and Woman" or "A Laugh and A Look". Then there is the delightfully frustrating "My Mysterious Mademoiselle", in which the protagonist is thwarted rather severely in his love interest. Love has a main role in almost all of these stories; usually emphasizing the power balance between the sexes. Alcott has a way of standing things on their heads, and is a master of the surprise ending.

Worth every minute, worth every dollar, this collection includes all of the known thrillers of Alcott, as well as a remarkably throrough and informative introduction by Madeleine Stern.

Leona and Madeleine are two American girls with impeccable backgrounds in books and bookloving, dating from before the Second World War. They got together and became booksellers on the most fragile of bases - the stationery was printed a year before they ever sold a book - but their friendship was firm, their enthusiasm vast and their knowledge immense.

They started off with a tiny stock, superbly described in their first catalogue, and built up their initial success, fuelling it with trips to postwar Europe where they happily trawled through centuries of printed rummage to unearth treasures for resale.

Every year they booked a trip, at first aboard ex-troopships, more latterly on airliners, and explored the labyrinthine world of booksellers and their wares. From the third floor of Marks and Co in Charing Cross Road to a secluded chateau outside Paris and all points in between they met and described in their diaries the amazingly colourful booksellers and their shops. A stack of Renaissance folios in the toilet, a rat in the basement, an ex-movie star, Russian emigres - I can hardly begin to describe the experiences they had and the people they met and charmed.

From the very first pages I can understand why they found their way into so many hearts. The excitement at finding a rare book for a song is genuine, the affection they feel for each other and their annual friends warming, and the language in which they describe it all is witty and engaging. One can almost smell the dusty, musty bookshops, the tottering stacks, the ricketty ladders, the clutter, calfskin and cellars of old world bookshops.

If you love books at all, then go forth and hunt down this one. It is a rare treasure in itself, an authentic feelgood odyssey through the world of booksellers, their wares and their curious habitats. A tag-team effort of both partners, it is a delight from beginning to end.

For everyone loving books, history and detectives this book is a great pleasure to read. With great enthusiasm Leona & Madeleine write about their lives and the books which they bought and sold. It makes one jealous of times when rare books could still be found under piles of dust instead of being sold for fortunes. So stop reading the reviews and start reading this book now.

Given to me as a birthday present on a misty Northwest beach,the whimsical allure of these charmingly self-possessed women residingin one of the toughest cities in the world, drew me into its first pages even as the rest of my party sat around on logs, barbecuing fine local viands & feeding the camp dogs. From their student years, surviving the Depression & WWII; to studying & getting published through the exciting times of starting a company & their book-hunting jaunts to musty basements in faraway places this is a lively, lovely duet by two voices weaving a deeply evocative memoir...

Those who love books and the history of the written word have benefitted from these devoted "literary sleuths" who not only devoted themselves to located lost treasures, but who pioneered the rights of women in academe. A story of how devotede friends could pool their talents to rescue lost arts and discover the literary secrets of groundbreaking authors. A suprisingly exciting read.

This well-researched volume describes the Fowler family, certainly the most well-known and colourful "phrenological dynasty" of the 19th century. Besides their obvious interest in Phrenology, the Fowlers were also active in the reform movement, advocating sex education (a highly controversial subject in those days), women's rights (protesting against the then fashionable tight-laced corsets), and architecture (with the idea of octagon buildings). The author clearly explains the important role played by Phrenology in the definition of 19th century American culture, and by the Fowlers in particular. 

OF COURSE you will want to read Little Men, which is the sequel to Little Women. Little Men is in no way as good as Little Women, though it is a good sturdy children's classic.

In Jo's Boys, the story is finished out. The boys mature and we learn what happens to them. Some fare well, others don't prosper. This is what makes Jo's Boy's somewhat somber in nature. Alcott notes the passing of Marmee, and others depart as well. A sadder tale, and a bittersweet end to the saga of the March family. A funny tidbit is the appearance of fans to bother Mother Bhaer (Jo). Alcott afflicts her alter-ego with the same annoyances that the fans created for her after Little Women. One uninvited admirer even cadges a postage stamp from her desk. A bit of real-life levity in an otherwise subdued book.

Even if not up to Little Women's literary heights, Jo's Boys is a must-read if you want to know how it all turned out. (And who can resist that!)

This book is a sequel to Little Men and is about the same characters. The childish bond between both the boys and girls has been replaced with a stronger bond of affection. Little Josie has finally grown and wants to be an actor, little Ted has his friend, but will Nat truly be able to marry Daisy? The childish affection has turned into real love, but will it always remain? Will Dan get out of jail? If not, what will happen to him? All these questions will be answered. This book takes the lives of all the characters in Little Men and goes until the end of their youth. BUT BEWARE, THIS BOOK CANNOT BE READ WITHOUT FIRST READING LITTLE MEN. This will be appropriate for children, but I recommend it more around the age of 10 and 11. I myself read it when I was 8 or 9, but I understand it better when I read it now. Enjoy!! Cheers!!!!! : )

This is the best book in the whole world(opinion). This should be rated 50000000...stars. I found this interesting than the other two books. Jo's boys is cont. of Little Women and Little Men. Join, Nat the musician, Dan the Wanderer, Emil the Sailor, Tommy a doctor(kind of), Franz, a merchant, Mischievous Ted, and Little prof.(rob)...etc. It's not only the boys, but the girls, lovely Daisy, Giddy Gaddy Nan, princess Bess, & Actress Josie. Mr.Bhaer, Jo, Laurie, Amy, Meg, & Mr.March, help these Children(now gentleman and ladies), discover their strenghts and weeknesses. They all are different, yet so together, happy, sad, and scared.

Madeleine Stern was integral in uncovering the "lost" thrillers of Louisa May Alcott, which were published under her pen name A.M.Barnard. Because of her familiarity with Alcott's life and work, I expected a lot more out of the biography than I received. The author's 19C style detracts from the information presented and often leads to confusion on the part of the reader, assuming the reader has familiarity with the vocabulary, customs and diseases of the 19C. The author also mentions characters without bothering to mention their significance. For example "Miss Burnett" is mentioned several times in the biography. What is never mentioned is that "Miss Burnett" is Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of such childhood classics as "A Little Princess" and "The Secret Garden." I felt this book would have been more useful to me had it been written in a more straight forward style and been more educational in its approach not only to the Alcott in particular, but to the 19C in general.

"Moods" was a very good boo

If you haven't already read "Old Books, Rare Friends" by the same authors, then you may enjoy this title.

However, if you've already read "Old Books, Rare Friends," you'll probably be very disappointed. "Bookends" is a much shorter work, and much of it simply repeats "Old Books, Rare Friends."

"Bookends" leaves out most of the stories concerning the authors' book collecting and instead focuses on their relationships with others (e,g,., men they didn't marry, mothers, dogs).