Pauline's Passion and Punishment

By Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888) was an American short story writer, novelist, and poet most famous for writing the novel “Little Women”, as well as its sequels “Little Men” and “Jo's Boys”. She grew up in New England and became associated with numerous notable intellectuals of her time, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Henry David Thoreau. First published in 1863, Alcott's “Pauline's Passion and Punishment” is a thrilling short story of love, anger, and vengeance that will not disappoint fans and collectors of Alcott's seminal work. Written while Louisa was a nurse during the American Civil war, the story explores the strict and unfair roles of men and women that were so evident at that time. Other notable works by this author include: "An Old-Fashioned Girl" (1886), "Eight Cousins" (1869), and "A Long Fatal Love Chase" (1875). Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read & Co. Books
• Release date: Oct 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528788526

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was a 19th-century American novelist best known for her novel, Little Women, as well as its well-loved sequels, Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women is renowned as one of the very first classics of children’s literature, and remains a popular masterpiece today.

Reviews for Pauline's Passion and Punishment

[philsyphe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of Louisa May Alcott's darkest works, again showing how talented she was at writing in different genres; a mark of a great author.This is a tale of a scorned woman's revenge on a man who informed her - via letter - that he'd dropped her to marry someone with more money. Thus the passion in the story is about Pauline's desire to get even, which involves her using a man who's besotted with her, and a former female school friend, without accounting for how her (Pauline's) actions against her betrayer will affect those two who are innocent. The punishment comes at the end of the tale and I can't mention anymore here without giving things away.

[sueincyprus · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is a rather depressing tale of unrequited love, leading to bitterness, anger, and betrayal.

Pauline learns that the man she loves is married to someone else She is comforted by Manuel, a man a few years younger than she, who has loved her for a long time. She agrees to marry him.. but he knows that she only cares for him as a friend, and thinks of him as a brother rather than a husband.

Alas, there were no redeeming features to this book in which Pauline shows an increasingly vicious desire for revenge, leading, in a shocking climax, to a lifetime of regret.

I suppose it might be considered a moral tale, pointing out the evils of bitterness and the disasters befalling a lust for revenge. I just found it depressing.