His parents were Abigaill May and the pedagogue, writer and philosopher Amos Bronson Alcott.
Louisa had three sisters, Anna, Lizzie, and Abba May. His brother Dapper died when he was still a child. She grew up and lived in New England, USA. All four sisters were educated in their own home by their father.
At an early age, to help her family financially, she began to work sporadically as a teacher, seamstress, governess and writer; his first book was Flower Fables (1855), consisting of stories originally written for Ellen Emerson, daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
She never married and was, like her parents, active in the social and political plane throughout her life, aligning herself against slavery and strongly supporting the vote of women. After her mother died, she took charge of your home.
He died in Boston on March 6, 1888 from the aftermath of mercury poisoning contracted during his wartime service, the same day his father was buried. She was 55 years old.