Representations of Health, Illness, and Repair in the Works of Louisa May Alcott

This book examines the cultural work and meaning-making of Louisa May Alcott's representations of health and illness. It investigates not only the ways in which her stories critically explore issues of well-being and affliction in nineteenth-century America but also the reparative strategies that her narratives make available.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter One: Contextualizing and Reading Health, Illness, and Repair
Chapter Two: Little Patient Beth
Chapter Three: Illness and the Everyday in Little Men and Jo's Boys
Chapter Four: Girls' Education for Health in Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom
Chapter Five: Trauma, Illness, and Repair in Hospital Sketches
Chapter Six: The Nurse's Battle in Alcott's Short(er) Fiction
Conclusion
Bibliography
About the Author