Years ago, I read The Ghost in the Little House: A Life of Rose Wilder Lane
... and then I forgot all about it until I read Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen last winter. I'm not sure why I keep reading the same story over and over, but it fascinates me.A Wilder Rose is a novel, based on the letters and journals of Rose Wilder Lane. It tells the story of Rose and her involvement with the books. Laura is there too, but the focus definitely isn't on her. This is about Rose and her constant struggle for "cash cash cash," as she works to support herself, her parents, and her adopted sons. Trust me, it's not half as mercenary as I just made her sound. But it did leave me wondering whether the books would have been written if it wasn't for the stock market crash.
Can you imagine life without those books? How would we have ever learned about butchering pigs and making cheese and all the rest of it? My great-grandmother lived in a sod house and made her own soap, but I never knew about it until I was an adult and it was too late to ask for details. So I'm very glad we have the stories of someone's childhood to learn from.
It also fascinated me to read about the world that Rose was living in and how much it had changed from her mother's day.
I definitely recommend this one. If you've got Kindle Unlimited, it's free to read.
Disclosure - the publisher provided me with an ARC.
2 comments:
Thanks for your comments about ROSE, Michelle! I appreciate your taking time to blog about the book. Re: your question about whether the LH books would have been written if it weren't for the Crash. I think probably not. Rose would have left the farm if she could have and would have filled her time with other writing. I wonder, too, if Laura would have written her autobiography ("Pioneer Girl") if the Wilders hadn't needed cash. This isn't to diminish the lovely books, but just to look at them realistically, and understand what compelled their authors.
Thanks again!
Thank you for letting me know about these books.
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