Louisa May Alcott was born in Pennsylvania, USA, in 1832. The Alcott family did not have much money and so when Louisa was in her teens she began to take various positions including teacher, seamstress, and servant. When the Civil War broke out she enlisted as a nurse and during this time contracted typhoid fever which would effect her health for the rest of her life. She had various stories published before being asked to write a children's book, the result of which was Little Women. The success of this book meant that she and her family were financially secure at last. Louisa died in 1888 and is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetary in Massachusetts.