Eve LaPlante Looks for Louisa May Alcott's Jewish Roots

Eve LaPlante has followed up on her dual bio of writer Louisa May Alcott and her mother, titled "Marmee & Louisa." In an article in the May 28 issue of the Forward newspaper, she recounts a journey to Portugal to explore the Sephardic Jewish roots of Alcott, a relative of hers.

In an article titled "Discovering Louisa May Alcott's Jewish History on Portuguese Tour," LaPlante recounted the family's history and her connection to it. She wrote,

My late aunt, Charlotte May Wilson, whose grandmother was Louisa’s closest first cousin, told me that the Jewish ancestry was a topic of pride in the family. The first person we encountered in Lisbon, the cabdriver who picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel, offered us an impromptu history lesson on Portugal’s Jews.

LaPlante's tour explores architectural nooks and crannies of Jewish history in Portugal, complete with burnings at the stake, explusions and other grim milestones, along with more recent efforts at reconciliation.