Hospital Sketches

These pieces written in 1863, before Louisa May Alcott became famous for LITTLE WOMEN, are vividly brought to life by narrator Anne Hancock. Alcott traveled from her comfortable home in Concord, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., to minister to Civil War soldiers. Hancock skillfully demonstrates the humor, compassion, and determination of Nurse Tribulation Periwinkle (Alcott's pseudonym), the grit and courage of the soldiers, and the often graphic descriptions of hospital life. Listeners will feel that they're beside Alcott when she makes a request to a dying Virginia blacksmith, "Let me help you bear it, John." In addition to the medical settings, she makes witty observations of Washington's streets and residents. Sadly, Alcott's time was cut short when she contracted typhoid fever and had to return home. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine