Book Review of Behind the Mask, The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott

Behind the Mask, The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott is an amazing look at the racier stories by the author of the widely read children’s novel Little Women. Alcott may have become famous writing children’s books, but as Behind the Mask shows, she also shined as a mystery writer.

The tales, originally published under the pen name A.M. Barnard gives us a glimpse into Alcott’s darker side. An introduction by Madeleine Stern explains why Alcott chose such a grim genre with this memorable quote from a letter Alcott wrote to a friend:

I intend to illuminate the Ledger with a blood and thunder tale as they are easy to “compose” and are better paid than moral and elaborate works of Shakespear...

Blood and thunder tales they are, using mayhem, betrayal, lust, and seduction as the central themes of her tantalizing plots.

“Behind a Mask,” the first story in the collection and its namesake, takes the reader through a never ending typhoon of plot twists and surprises. The characters seem too real to be fiction as they are lead through a dangerous game of lies by the most unsuspecting person.

Alcott’s “natural ambition for the lurid style” shines through as the collection continues with the selection of “Pauline’s Passion and Punishment,” a story of a beautiful Cuban woman’s revenge against an untrue and married lover.

“The Mysterious Key and What It Opened” is a tale about a family mystery and the orphan who has to unlock it.

The romantic language that the stories are written in only lends to their charm, even if, at times, the passages are difficult to understand.

What ties all the stories in this collection together is the underlying theme of strong femme fatales making their way in the world the best way they know how. Alcott takes this theme to great lengths with satisfying results.

Photo by Anu-Liisa Varis