Louisa May Alcott was the daughter of a reputable Transcendentalist named Bronson Alcott, who was an innovative educator and writer. He started a Utopian farming community on the outskirts of Boston (which was ultimately abandoned) with David Thoreau, and had the support of Ralph Waldo Emerson. A stern father, he does not come off well in Alcott's memoirs. After the success of Little Women, she wrote erotic literature under a pseudonym; she had her dark side too.