Reflections - Aunt Nellie’s Diary 

Strand Magazine February-May 2020

Wow! A previously unpublished work by Louisa May Alcott? I borrowed Charlie’s February-May 2020 copy of The Strand Magazine to read the discovery—an incomplete work of fiction called “Aunt Nellie’s Diary.”

The story starts on Aunt Nellie’s fortieth birthday. She cares for her teenage niece Annie who has invited her friend Isabel for the summer. These friends are stark contrasts. Anne is pure good and duty. Isabel is beautiful but cold and manipulative. Into the household comes Edward, the invalid son of Nellie’s friend. The story ends abruptly with Annie telling her aunt about Isabel breaking her engagement because “. . . she no longer loved him and would not be fettered by any bonds. I begged and prayed she would . . .”

 

Did Alcott tire of the too perfect Annie? Perhaps she realized the story was a bit too melodramatic? Whichever, I’m sure The Strand Magazine boosted their sales offering the fictional tidbit to curious readers like me.