Summary

Chapter 5 begins with a letter from Louisa to May dated January 2, 1869 in Boston. Louisa tells May she is not surprised she has gotten into the new art classes, and she has found a new apartment for them in Boston. She also tells May she has decided to write a follow up novel to Little Women.

After the letter, the chapter begins with May living in Boston going on a snowy sleigh ride with Joshua. He asks her why she would want to keep working on art after her disappointing reviews from her illustrations in Little Women: “I’d hate to see you go through that again. Why keep punishing yourself? Artists appear to be a miserable lot, and that’s not you” (42). Immediately after Joshua says this, May notices that the sleigh is going way too fast, and they crash in the middle...