Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) was an American writer best known for her classic novel Little Women (1868-69), drawn from her own childhood. Personally educated by writers such as Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau, she first gained literary success with Hospital Sketches (1863), based on her experiences as a nurse during the Civil War. Her writing often deals with women’s issues in an honest, insightful manner.