The Melancholia of Louisa May Alcott

One day in 1857, Louisa May Alcott walked to the Mill Dam in Boston’s Back Bay, stared into the Charles River and thought about throwing herself into it. She was 24, poor, discouraged and unable to find a job to help support her family. Looking into the river, she talked herself out of suicide.

Sources:

New England Historical Society, "Louisa May Alcott Shakes Off the Blues", https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.c...

Hirschhorn and Greaves, "Louisa May Alcott and Her Mysterious Illness", Perspect Biol Med. 2007 Spring;50(2):243-59. doi: 10.1353/pbm.2007.0019. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17468...

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