Work: A Story of Experience

by Louisa May Alcott

"Work: A Story of Experience" by Louisa May Alcott is a semi-autobiographical novel published in 1873. Christie Devon, a twenty-one-year-old orphan, leaves her relatives to support herself independently. She moves through various jobs—housekeeper, actress, governess, companion, seamstress—encountering friendship, tragedy, and injustice along the way. Drawing from Alcott's own workforce experiences, the story explores women's labor, personal independence, social reform, and mental health in the years surrounding the American Civil War.