Hospital Sketches

‘Hospital Sketches’ is a collection of four sketches based on Alcott’s time as a nurse for the Union during the American Civil War. The sketches follow Tribulation Periwinkle a bored city girl who decides against being a teacher, acting or getting married to instead serve on the front nursing the soldiers. It is a sensitive, heart-warming, humorous collection that made Alcott an overnight sensation. The horrors of war contrasted with the human goodness in these dark times make the collection incredibly compelling, creating an intelligent and remarkable insight in to the horrors of the civil war. It is a collection perfect for lovers of short stories and history buffs alike.



Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) was an author, abolitionist and proud feminist. Her family suffered financially while she was growing up and so she was forced to take on multiple jobs in her youth to help provide for her family. Her writing became her outlet, forming her ideas and beliefs in the empowerment of women and people in to literature that reverberates to this day. Her most notable works include "Little Women", which is now a movie starring Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet, its sequel ‘Little Men’ and ‘An Old Fashioned Girl’.