How I identified a probable pen name of Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott took part in a 19th-century literary culture of anonymity and guessing games. Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Before Louisa May Alcott published the bestselling “Little Women” in two volumes – the first in 1868, the second in 1869 – she wrote melodramatic thrillers, selling these short stories to magazines to bring in cash for her impoverished family.

On a cold November day in 2021, I was rereading Madeleine B. Stern’s introduction to her 780-page edition of “Louisa May Alcott’s Collected Thrillers.”