My Heart is Boundless is an excellent, chronological collection of Abigail (or, Abba) Alcott's writings, of what can be found. Much of her diary was destroyed after her death by Bronson or edited by Louisa, so the collection is more letters than journal entries, but it gives the reader a good sense of this remarkable (and long suffering) woman in her own words (do I need to mention she was the inspiration for 'Marmee' in Little Women?. LaPlante adds biographical tidbits throughout.

The only other book on Abba is The Transcendental Wife by Cynthia Barton, a book not widely published, but an invaluable contribution to the collection of lit on the Alcotts.

Abba is hardly the ideal 'Marmee' but she worked hard to get more education than what was common for young women at that time (with the help of her older brother Samuel). She was passionate about causes such as abolition, but marriage to Bronson and the resulting domestic duties dimmed this somewhat. She was, as women were once, constantly pregnant, and Bronson's idealism and eccentricity often kept them poor and moving fairly frequently (a current thought now is that Bronson was bi-polar). She was long-suffering and loyal, and loved her children; she was prone to depression (whether organic or situational, one can only guess), but continued to read and work for causes as she could. One cannot help but wonder what a powerhouse this woman would have been had she not married. ( )

What a way to start out 2013 - wrapping up my reading of these lovely bits of notes, letters, and historical tidbits by and about Abigail May Alcott. My Heart is Boundless is a nice, tidy, organized book that chronologically (mostly) follows Abigail's life through her own writing and reflection.

I've been a fan of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women since I was a young girl. I was the oldest of four girls (for a time, before three brothers and two more sisters came along) and related well to Meg - the oldest of Louisa's quartet. I admired her quiet dignity, her willingness to accept what happened, and understood how she managed being surrounded by the sisters she was surrounded by. So it was a bit of a delight for me to learn that Louisa's mother, Abigail, also had quite a few sisters and brothers and I hungrily dug in to her writings.

I identified strongly with Louisa's desire for knowledge and information - but not only that, her desire to keep her family close. There was quite a bit of tragedy that struck the May family and Abigail appeared to be the bedrock through it all. These writings are a perfect example of how a woman of her time need not be shut away, but rather could find happiness and fulfillment in ways other than motherhood.

My only issue with this collection is how choppy it can be. It's mostly chronological, but I needed to finish it and would have rather spent time reading portions and then moving on to other books. It does not make for a comfortable, "unputdownable" book - but rather is perhaps intended to be a book to be read in short bites. The other small issue I had was with the numerous footnotes - every name seemed to be identified by the author every single time it cropped up (which was nice at first, but after a while I began to feel like I was being treated like I was stupid for "not getting it" when I was). Still, easily enough avoided if you are someone who can resist the temptation of those footnotes.

I recommend this for fans of Louisa May Alcott. I think you will find much of Marmee hiding in this book, waiting to be awakened. ( )