Eve LaPlante is an American writer of historical non-fiction. LaPlante has published non-fiction books and many articles and essays, primarily about

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

historical subjects, including some of her early American ancestors such as

Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her ...

in ''American Jezebel''. Her nonfiction book '' Salem Witch Judge'', won the 2008

Massachusetts Book Award Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

for Nonfiction. LaPlante's ancestor

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

have been “praised as reminiscent of a more celebratory

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

", according to the

Boston Book Festival The Boston Book Festival is an independent nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the name of its main event. The nonprofit was founded in 2009 by Deborah Z Porter, and aims to "celebrate the power of words to stimulate, agitate, ...

. In the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

''Boston'', which includes the preface to '' American Jezebel'', Shaun O'Connell wrote: "Just as Nathaniel Hawthorne dug into the dark history of his ancestry, which reached back both to the original Boston settlement of the 1630s and the

Salem Witch Trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

of the 1690s, so too did LaPlante trace family members who were rooted in the same eras... Hawthorne took shame upon himself for the misdeeds of his

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

ancestors, and LaPlante offers praise for her forebears who testified against Puritan repression. As her prefaces to these biographies, a kind of spiritual

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, show,

and

Samuel Sewall Samuel Sewall (; March 28, 1652 – January 1, 1730) was a judge, businessman, and printer in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, best known for his involvement in the Salem witch trials, for which he later apologized, and his essay ''The Selling ...

were not the dark Puritans many imagined them to be. They remain living presences, even models of rectitude, into the twenty-first century." LaPlante is a first cousin, four generations removed, of

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Little Men'' (1871) and ''Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in ...

through the only daughter (Charlotte May Wilkinson) of Louisa's uncle, the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and reformer,

Samuel Joseph May Samuel Joseph May (September 12, 1797 – July 1, 1871) was an American reformer during the nineteenth century who championed education, women's rights, and abolition of slavery. May argued on behalf of all working people that the rights of h ...

and his wife Lucretia Flagge Coffin May. She also collected and edited the private papers of her great great great great-aunt Abby May Alcott, the abolitionist and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

who was Louisa's mother and mentor. These writings were collected and published in 2012, under the title ''My Heart Is Boundless: Writings of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa's Mother'' (Free Press). LaPlante also authored a dual biography of Abba May Alcott and Louisa May Alcott entitled: ''Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother'' (Free Press, 2012). LaPlante graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and received a

Master's degree in education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Works

Nonfiction books

*Seized, 1993, 2000 *American Jezebel, 2004, 2005 *Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall, 2007, 2008 *My Heart is Boundless, 2012 *Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother, 2012, 2013

Other works and articles

*"The Riddle of TLE." Atlantic Monthly, Nov. 1988 (medicine), *"Out of Sight, Out of History." Jul. 2, 2004 (on Anne Hutchinson), *"Born to Party." Boston Globe, Nov. 2, 2008 (Ideas cover story on biopolitics), *"The Opposite of Thanksgiving." Boston Globe, Nov. 18, 2007 (Ideas cover story on Puritan thanksgivings), *"A Heretic's Overdue Honor." Sep. 7, 2005 (op-ed on Anne Hutchinson), *"First Steps at Speedskating." Boston Globe, Feb. 19, 2004 *"Visiting 'The Dead' in Dublin." Boston Globe, Jan. 20, 2002 (travel), *"What's in a Name?" Jan. 18, 1994, *"St. John: Almost Private Isle." Jan. 27, 1991 (travel), *"Exile of a Polish Revolutionary." Apr. 7, 1984, *"A Wealth of Knowledge." Oct. 12, 1986, *"Dying Words: The Irish Language." Feb. 10, 1985 (cover story), *"Rattle & Strum." Nov. 2000 (music), *"Autumn Leavings: Sweet Pickings." Oct. 2000 (travel), *"Pay Dirt." Sep. 2000 (profile of Maine potato farmer), *"Edible Complex." Sep. 2000 (art), *"Flour Power." Sep. 1999 (art), *"The Secret Life of Language: High School Semiotics." Nov. 1983 (education), *"Divorce: The Damage (Not) Done." Spring 2002 (essay/book review), *"Mother's Day: Why we should be thanking Louisa May Alcott and Marmee." May 6, 2013, *"Alyson's Orchard." Sep. 2002 (travel), *"Hidden Cape Ann." Sep. 2000 (travel), *"Seeking Charlotte and Wilbur." Sep. 1999 (travel), *"Good Living: Dead Set in Dublin." Dec. 2002 (travel), *"Still Life With Jelly." Jan. 2002 (art), *"The University That Misogyny Built." Jan. 29, 2005 (op-ed on Anne Hutchinson), *"Illinois Jacquet: A lot of Lovin' in Front." Sep./Oct. 1983 (music), *"A Judge of Character: The Reformation of a Salem Witch Judge." Oct. 2011 (on Samuel Sewall), *"Discovering Louisa May Alcott's Jewish History on Portuguese Tour." June 7, 2013 (travel), *"The Baby-sitter." Mar. 1998, *"Our Lady of the Hutch." Sep. 18, 2004 (op-ed on Anne Hutchinson), *"Keeping the Landscape Hurdle-Free: Walking in Ireland." Jul. 8, 2001 (travel), *"Bread, Tea, and Prayer." Apr. 7, 1996 (travel), *"The Perfect Family Size." Jul. 1998, *"Five Career Ruts You Can't Afford." Nov. 1987, *"C.B. Fisk's Monumental Creations." Dec. 1985 (music)

Book reviews

Eve LaPlante's books have received many awards () and widely praised. Her reviews include: Marmee and Lousia "Abigail May Alcott is at the center of Marmee & Louisa ... 'Marmee,' as her daughters called her, was a fine writer, an indefatigable reformer, a devoted teacher — and, above all, Louisa's literary lodestar ... fterthe wildly popular Little Women...Bronson was in clover. He was, he crowed, 'the Father of Miss Alcott.' At last, people came to hear him lecture. To his credit, though, and after his fashion, he mentioned in passing that Louisa's mother hadn't yet received 'her full share.' To her credit, LaPlante evens the score." ''- New York Times'' My Heart is Boundless: Writings of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa's Mother LaPlante certainly is justified in crowing about "My Heart Is Boundless," the vibrant companion volume that has been released synchronously with "Marmee & Louisa." For the first time, Abigail May Alcott's own writings — once thought to have been destroyed — have been compiled and published. LaPlante has edited and lightly annotated a rich selection of letters, journal entries, and sketches that demonstrate, in Abigail's own words, the spirited, complicated, visionary woman she was. ''- Seattle Times'' Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LaPlante, Eve American non-fiction writers Living people Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Sewall family Quincy family Alcott family Princeton University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)