Jack and Jill: A Village Story

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Jack and Jill: A Village Story
First edition cover
AuthorLouisa May Alcott
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's
PublisherRoberts Brothers
Publication date
1880
Pages325

Jack and Jill: A Village Story by Louisa May Alcott is a children's book originally serialized in St. Nicholas magazine December 1879-October 1880 and belongs to the Little Women Series.[1] Parts of it were written during the death of May Nieriker. The novel takes place in the fictionalized New England town of Harmony Village. Jack and Jill is the story of two friends named Jack and Janey and tells of the aftermath of a serious sledding accident. After publication, the novel received reviews comparing it to Little Women and praising its portrayal of reality, while other reviews criticized its romance.

Background[edit]

Editions[edit]

Jack and Jill was serialized in St. Nicholas from December 1879 to October 1880.[2] The book was first published in novel format by the Roberts Brothers in 1880 with four illustrations that were included in the serialized edition, one of which is attributed to Frederick Dielman.[3] It was again published by Roberts Brothers in 1893 and included two more illustrations as well as images of Alcott’s original manuscript.[4] Little, Brown and Company published the book in 1905 with eight illustrations by Harriet Roosevelt Richards[5] and again in 1907 with illustrations by Frederick Dielman and an anonymous artist. Little, Brown and Company also published a 1928 edition with color illustrations, including some by Bertha Miller. In 1948 Jack and Jill was published as a Rainbow Classic with four illustrations by Nettie Weber.[6]

Composition[edit]

Alcott sent sample chapters of Jack and Jill to her editor, Mary Mapes Dodge. When Dodge expressed satisfaction after reading them, an encouraged Alcott wrote four more chapters.[7] Writing one chapter of the book every day,[8] Alcott wrote in her journal that she “peg[ged] away very slowly”.[9] In writing, Alcott drew upon the lives of local Concord children, explaining that “Jack and Jill are right out of our own little circle”.[10] Several children wanted to be included in the story.[9]

Alcott’s sister May Nieriker was due to deliver her child at the end of 1879. Alcott wanted to see May in Paris in time for the delivery, but reluctantly decided against it because she knew she would be seasick and did not want May to have to take care of her.[11] She wrote, “I know I shall wish I had gone; it is my luck.”[12] Instead, she stayed at the Bellevue Hotel to finish writing Jack and Jill.[13] May died from complications developed after childbirth and left her newborn, Lulu, to Alcott’s care.[14] After May’s death, Alcott stayed for a while at Willow Cottage, Magnolia, which makes an appearance in Jack and Jill.[15] On January 1, 1880, she wrote in her journal, “Tried to write on ‘J. and J.’ to distract my mind; but the wave of sorrow kept rolling over me”.[16] In January she finished the book and expressed the hope that her mourning did not affect what she intended to be a cheerful story.[17]

Plot[edit]

Jack Minot and Janey Pecq are best friends who are neighbors. Because of their friendship, Janey gets the nickname of Jill, to mimic the nursery rhyme. Jill and her mother are poor, whilst Jack's family are better off. One afternoon in winter, Jack and Jill sled with their friends. After being told she would not be brave enough to sled on a dangerous hill, Jill wants to do it. Jack suggests they sled across the pond instead, but Jill insists she will go down the hill. She goes down the hill and crashes but is not hurt. Jack decides to take Jill down the hill himself. After a couple runs, they crash, and Jack breaks his leg while Jill hurts her back. Mrs. Pecq fears Jill may be crippled for life but does not tell her. To help Jill cheer up, Mrs. Pecq suggests that Jill and her friends, Molly and Merry, begin improving their homes; they call this project their "missions".

As Christmas approaches, Mrs. Minot tasks Jack and Jill with making decorations for the tree. Jill and Mrs. Pecq join the Minots on Christmas, and Jill is presented with the Bird Room, decorated with paper birds, where she and Jack can spend time together. Mrs. Minot and Mrs. Pecq reveal that the two families will live together in the Minots' house until the children recover. Jack and Jill decide to keep up with their lessons at home so they do not fall behind in school. One day Jill decides to read a letter lying near the writing table; the letter says she will likely never recover. Mrs. Minot finds out that Jill read the letter but lets her choose whether or not to confess. That afternoon, Merry asks her parents for permission to decorate her room and promises to do her chores in return; the decorations are ruined when her room accidentally catches on fire. Meanwhile, Molly decides that she will tidy her house and keep her little brother clean and well-dressed, which turns out to be difficult. Molly's widowed father and the housekeeper do little to take care of the children.

In February Jack is well enough to attend school. Jill amuses herself by helping her drama club prepare for a performance with the village boys. Jill is chosen to play the part of Sleeping Beauty. When the performance comes, the boys act out tableaus from George Washington's life and the girls perform Sleeping Beauty as well as Mother Goose rhymes. Later, Jack's older brother Frank and his friend visit the trainyard and drive an unsupervised steam engine, nearly crashing into another train before reversing the engine in time. They are banned from the trainyard.

The Temperance Lodge, which is a boys' club that Frank and Jack attend, decides to befriend a troublemaker named Bob in hopes of having a good influence on him. Later, Jack wants to earn some money but refuses to tell anyone why. At Jill's suggestion, he sells cards. The teacher, Mr. Acton, punishes Jack because he was seen in the back room of a sweet shop; the back room has alcohol and a billiard table. At home, Mrs. Minot unsuccessfully tries to find out why Jack was there. Jill writes a letter to Bob and finds out that he owed someone money, which Jack paid for him in the shop's back room. Told what happened, Mr. Acton publicly excuses Jack from blame.

Almost four months after the sledding accident, Mrs. Minot tells Jack, Frank, and Jill that Jill and Mrs. Pecq are to live with them permanently. Jill is also given a back brace, which allows her to sit up and walk a little. Meanwhile, Merry' and Molly's housekeeping improves and Jack's friend Ed Devlin becomes sick and dies. Jill and the Minots spend the summer at Pebbly Beach, where they make many friends and Jill's health improves. Later Molly and her brother visit and join in a celebration at Pebbly Beach. When the families come back, Mrs. Minot decides that the children should take a couple years' break from school and tells Frank to delay college for a year. Mrs. Minot teaches Jill, Molly, and Merry at home. Mrs. Hammond, a physician, teaches the girls about physiology. It is revealed that when the children are older, Merry marries a budding artist named Ralph and Jill marries Jack, with Molly remaining unmarried.

Reception[edit]

The Hartford Daily Courant praised Jack and Jill as "the best [Alcott] has written for years" and said that some readers thought it as good as or better than Little Women and Little Men.[18] Jack and Jill, The Springfield Daily Union opined, "is the best story [Alcott] has written".[19] The Boston Courier called it "one of the brightest" of her "recent efforts", including "much vivacity and strength".[20] The Springfield Daily Republican praised Alcott for creating realistic stories,[21] while The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art noted that the days in the book were long and the "mothers at least twenty times as long-suffering" as what the editors were familiar with.[22] The Independent described it as "a fairly good book for juvenile readers" but not as good as Little Women or An Old-Fashioned Girl.[22] Horace Scudder of The Atlantic Monthly criticized "the suppressed love-making" of the characters, noting that Alcott saw it as "drawing the picture of a natural society of boys and girls who are soon to be young men and young women."[23] In reference to the focus on injured children, Scribner's Monthly wrote that Alcott was approaching "false sentimentality."[23]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ Cheney 2010, p. 401.
  2. ^ Ullom 1969, p. 49.
  3. ^ Ullom 1969, p. 49; Payne 1980, p. 2
  4. ^ Ullom 1969, p. 50.
  5. ^ Ullom 1969, p. 50; Stern 1984, p. 170
  6. ^ Ullom 1969, p. 51-52.
  7. ^ Shealy 2004, p. 178.
  8. ^ Stern 1977, p. 380.
  9. ^ a b Cheney 2010, p. 322.
  10. ^ Cheney 2010, pp. 302–303.
  11. ^ Reisen 2009, pp. 272–273; Cheney 2010, p. 323
  12. ^ Cheney 2010, p. 323.
  13. ^ Reisen 2009, pp. 272–273.
  14. ^ Reisen 2009, pp. 275–276.
  15. ^ Cheney 2010, p. 314.
  16. ^ Cheney 2010, p. 325.
  17. ^ Cheney 2010, pp. 326–327.
  18. ^ Clark 2004, p. 333.
  19. ^ Clark 2004, p. 337.
  20. ^ Clark 2004, pp. 333–334.
  21. ^ Clark 2004, p. 336.
  22. ^ a b Clark 2004, p. 338.
  23. ^ a b Clark 2004, p. 339.

Works cited[edit]

  • Cheney, Edna Dow (2010). Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters, and Journals. Carlisle, Massachusetts, USA: Applewood Books. ISBN 978-1-4290-4460-8.
  • Clark, Beverly Lyon, ed. (2004). "Jack and Jill: A Village Story (1880)". Louisa May Alcott: The Contemporary Reviews. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82780-9.
  • Payne, Alma J. (1980). Salzman, Jack (ed.). Louisa May Alcott: A Reference Guide. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: G. K. Hall & Co. ISBN 0-8161-8032-6.
  • Reisen, Harriet (2009). Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. New York, New York, USA: Henry Holt and Company, LLC. ISBN 978-0-8050-8299-9.
  • Stern, Madeleine B. (1984). Critical Essays on Louisa May Alcott. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: G. K. Hall & Co. ISBN 0-8161-8686-3.
  • Ullom, Judith C., ed. (1969). Louisa May Alcott: An Annotated, Selected Bibliography. Washington, D. C., USA: Library of Congress. pp. 46–49.

External links[edit]


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