Opera prima di Louisa May Alcott, scritta quando aveva appena diciassette anni e mai data alle stampe finché qualche anno fa non è stata ritrovata per caso fra le sue carte: è chiaro quindi che va letta per interesse storico o filologico, non certo per il suo valore letterario.
E' esattamente il tipo di romanzo che ci si aspetterebbe da un'adolescente romantica con ambizioni letterarie: come personaggi abbiamo una bellissima eroina senza difetti e in odor di santità, un cavaliere senza macchia ed una perfida antagonista, mentre la trama si sviluppa nella maniera più prevedibile possibile tra nobili sacrifici e virtù ricompensata grazie alle più impensabili coincidenze. Un polpettone sentimentale insomma, ma innanzitutto è ben scritto e poi leggendo con attenzione si possono anche cogliere in nuce le qualità dei libri successivi dell'autrice, ad esempio qualche linea di dialogo particolarmente vivace.
Per me che la amo visceralmente è stato interessante scoprirla in versione acerba, quando ancora non conosceva le complessità della vita: a chi non è un fan accanito ovviamente sconsiglio la lettura. ( )

Written when LMA was 17 as if she had the worldly experience of a 13 year old with no sense of humor. She tells and tells and shows and tells and tells and shows some more and the whole thing is so loaded with pure, virtuous, self sacrifice it would sink in a pool of mercury. Oh and the heroine does get the guy, so much for LMA persusing a different sort of ending. ( )

the writing was too florid for my taste... tender glances, noble hearts... but you can see the potential of a great writer in this first unpublished work. ( )

It's a fun thought that this book only was 'discovered' and published in my lifetime, despite the fact that it was Louisa May Alcott's very first novel, written while she was a teenager. Actually, comparing this novel to the romances and romantic thrillers I've been reading lately, Alcott's teenage novel writing is a bit stronger than that of many adult, professional, successfully published authors. The story is pretty basic, but then again a lot of books from this era about women follow a similar formulaic plot- boy meets poor but beautiful girl, boy falls for poor but beautiful girl, girl falls for boy but can't admit it for reasons, reasons evaporate, boy gets girl. It's maybe not great literature, but a lot of what is mistaken for great literature is not. Readers who enjoy other books by Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, should probably plan to read this book and add it to their bookshelves. ( )

Being an avid reader, a lot of people assume that I have read a lot of books, and that is a wonderful assumption and it is pretty much true but what they are thinking is that I have read a lot of the classic books. Anything by Jane Austin, Dickins, Orwell, Bronte... just to name a few. The true is, I have never gotten into those books, they were forced on students when I was in school and I hate reading because I have to. So I don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to the "classics". I am fine with that. Where is this going.... well that means I have never read anything by Louisa May Alcott - nope, no Little Women... sorry.

So as part of my library summer challenge we were told to read a LMA book and I chose a nice small one to start out with. The Inheritance is a very short, almost novella style book about a family and their many friends, about class and wealth, and about humility and virtue. It was very good. It was a realistic yet romanticized portrayal of the world the characters were living in. The writing itself is always what throws me when it comes to classics - they are very verbose. I like books that throw you into a plot and run with it, not just talk about it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I am very much happy that I have finally read something by this author but I think I will be happy returning to my modern YA and MG books for now.
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