Ms. Hen reviews Work

Work

Louisa May Alcott

Roberts Brothers

1873

Ms. Hen chose to read this novel because she happened to find herself at Louisa May Alcott’s house, The Orchard House, this past month, when she saw the Christmas presentation there. She bought this book in the gift shop because she had never read it. Christmas at The Orchard House is charming; actors guide the guests through the rooms while they explain how the family is preparing for the holiday. Louisa first greets the visitors, and explains that they are preparing a Christmas basket for their father, and we met other characters, and it ended with Santa Claus and some children singing songs and performing a skit from LITTLE WOMEN. No pictures or cell phones were allowed while this happened because we were whisked away to the nineteenth century, and we were not to confuse the people who lived during that era.

WORK is about a young woman who sets out to find work in the nineteenth century. This was not an easy task in those days, because the opportunities for women were not that plentiful. This novel is loosely based on Louisa’s life before she became a writer. Christie Devon becomes a servant, an actress, a companion, a seamstress, and eventually a nurse during the Civil War. She meets people who are interesting to her, and she makes friends. She suffers loneliness, and eventually finds happiness with a family that suits her.

When Ms. Hen read this novel, she thought parts of it dragged on a little too much. At first she though the writing was a little loquacious and precious, but she realized the writing suited the times in which it was written. Miss Alcott is good at describing human relationships and emotions, but the story got interesting when there was romance involved. Ms. Hen didn’t want it to be this way, but that is how she experienced it. She didn’t think that Louisa meant for it to get interesting when Christie found love, but it does.

The Orchard House at Christmas (the porch is having work done on it)

One aspect that Ms. Hen did not like about this novel is the prejudice that Christie Devon has towards the Irish. Several times she complains that she does not want to work with an Irish girl because they are shiftless and do not like to work. However, she did not have a problem befriending a former slave. Ms. Hen realizes that those were different times, and if Louisa were around today, she would be astounded at how the Irish people have assimilated into mainstream American culture, and are considered American now. Ms. Hen thinks that the reason some people today consider the Irish in America as racist is because they have been the victims of prejudice throughout history. Ms. Hen finds it difficult to forgive Louisa because she would like to imagine that Louisa would be her friend, even though Ms. Hen is an Irish hen, we live in the twenty-first century now, and it’s a different world.

Ms. Hen liked this novel. She found it fascinating to learn about the world of work for women in Louisa’s day. The character in the novel never became a writer, but that was one of the options available to women, though a difficult one. Ms. Hen learned at the Orchard House that Louisa supported her family through her writing, and they had been poor previous to that. Bronson Alcott was a brilliant man, but not successful, but he became a success after Louisa, due to her own prominence. Louisa May Alcott is still as famous today as she was in her lifetime, maybe more so. Ms. Hen thinks it’s because people want to read comforting stories about women struggling and eventually making it in the world, which is always difficult to accomplish.