Born on November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania, Louisa May Alcott is best known for Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo’s Boys. At an early age, troubled by poverty that plagued the family, Alcott worked as a teacher, seamstress, governess, domestic helper, and writer, to support her family. Writing became a creative and emotional outlet for her as a result of all the pressures. Flower Fables (1854), a selection of tales originally written for Ellen Emerson, daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was her first book. With the publication of the first part of Little Women: or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in 1868 by the Roberts Brothers, Alcott became widely known and successful. It was well received by critics and audiences. Alcott published over 30 books and collections of stories, in all. She died in Boston, at the age of 55 after suffering from a stroke, on March 6, 1888.