Susan Cheever's 6 favorite Massachusetts books

At The Week magazine, Susan Cheever — novelist, memoirist and author of a new biography of Louisa May Alcott — recommended her six favorite works produced by Alcott’s prolific Concord, Mass., circle.

One title on the list:

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

James and Louisa May Alcott were friends. He wrote the worst review she ever got of her first novel, yet they continued to talk, exchange letters, and read each other’s work. Could there have been a Jamesian protagonist like Isabel Archer without Jo March?

Read about another book on the list.

The Portrait of a Lady is among the six best books named by Elizabeth Edwards, a lawyer who also happens to be the wife of former vice presidential candidate John Edwards; it is also one of Tina Brown's five best books on reputation.

Read about Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography by Susan Cheever.

Check out Cheever's favorite books and her five best list of books about obsession.

Visit Susan Cheever's official website, and see the Page 69 Test results for American Bloomsbury.

--Marshal Zeringue