"I want something to do." These are the first words in the narrative of Tribulation Periwinkle, the young protagonist of Hospital Sketches, and the autobiographic figure representing Louisa May Alcott. The book is, in fact, a compilation of four sketches based on letters written and sent home by the author herself during the six weeks she had spent as a volunteer nurse for the Union Army in Georgetown during the American Civil War.
Alcott was rather frustrated at the time, for she had found herself unable to satiate her immense desire for serving her country alongside the male soldiers. In April 1861, the enlistment of young men as volunteers began in Concord, Massachusetts filling her with a wave of enthusiasm and inspiration that made her vow to do all she could to help them out. For starters, she had volunteered locally as a seamstress but her aspiration in this direction remained unfulfilled. Consequently, she turned instead towards a career of nursing, and received orders, like her heroine, to travel shortly towards Georgetown, and work there as a volunteer nurse.
During her service, Alcott wrote home quite frequently. The style and richness of her letters had given them a great literary value so that many of her friends and acquaintances had suggested and attempted to persuade her of having them published. Alcott, however, did not consent to make such content public on account of all the people it would have involved; individuals who featured in the letters, and whose names would have been necessarily printed for all eyes to see. For this reason, Alcott chose to fictionalize her own experiences as a volunteer nurse, and transform the letters she sent to her family into a semi-biographical compilation centered on the young Miss Periwinkle.
The first of the sketches came into circulation for the first time in the 22nd of May, 1863 in The Boston Commonwealth, an abolitionist magazine back then. The last one made its appearance a month later, and received warm praise and great acclaim. James Redpath, who was a well-known publisher, for instance, had offered the author forty dollars for the collected sketches. Alcott accepted, and part of the money was donated to fund and support the orphans of the Civil War.
In spite of the favorable response and endless praise of her book, the success of the sketches came like a surprise to the author herself. She wrote in her journal, "I find I've done a good thing without knowing it". Her father, however, had predicted the immense success of the work saying that the subject and style were both, “commending it to the reader, and to the Army especially. I see nothing in the way of a good appreciation of Louisa’s merits as a woman and a writer”. This prophecy of his proved accurate, for even Henry James had written Alcott a letter in praise of her composition.
Succeeding in this manner was extremely important for Alcott. In spite of her outstanding talent and admirable literary skills, she was unfortunately lacking in terms of commercial contacts, and consequently in publishing opportunities as well. At the beginning of her career, she wrote under the pen name of A.M. Barnard, and perceived her writings as a trade rather than a contribution to the literary world. The humble opinion she held about herself, however, was soon dissipated under the glitter of admiration she had won by dint of her marvelous books, notably Little Women in 1868 which remains today one of the best novels in the world.
Alongside her career as a writer, Alcott had fought with determination and zeal for women’s rights. Not only did she found The Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston, but she had also voiced women’s concerns through her masterpieces with admirable skill and brave honesty.
