Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Laura Ingalls Wilder's books tell a story that is both true and misleading, the product of a strange and tortured collaboration between Laura and her daughter Rose. Told in full, it would have been a tale full of misery, mistakes and tragedy, relieved by stoic endurance and loyalty. It wouldn't have been published. Wilder struggled to turn her family's pioneer story into the inspiring, heart-warming, heroic tale that fills the Little House books. Caroline Fraser adds context beyond the much-discussed question of the true authorship of the books, placing the pioneer epic in the larger frame of conflicts between settlers and Indians, and North and South, then exploring the later role of the pioneer story in the politics and myth-making of the nation and the world. The reaction against Wilder's books that has led to her name being taken off at least one school named in her honor shocks the books' fans, but Fraser shows how Rose used the stories for her own political purposes, and the US promoted them as propaganda after World War II. Wilder herself slanted the books to bolster the image of the settlers as an ideal model for America. And yet, Fraser's affection for the books and their author shows through her admission of their myopic worldview, omissions, and outright fabrications. Her sympathies clearly lie with Laura rather than with Rose, and she provides evidence against later claims that Rose was the true author of the books. The surprises of the book for me are in the details of Rose's life and politics and how she leveraged Laura's books to further her Libertarian views, even beyond her death. My own grandmother was born in a log cabin in Wisconsin, and she married my grandfather, whose family homesteaded not far from Walnut Grove. Another grandfather was born in a sod house in Nebraska. My mother grew up in circumstances as difficult as much that Wilder described. When Wilder presents the pioneer story while minimizing or totally ignoring the plight of the displaced and murdered Native Americans, she is telling the tale as my family would have told it. Fraser expands the view to encompass what we must admit if we are honest: our success and wealth were built on the suffering of real people. These sections of Fraser's book aren't comfortable to read, but they are necessary to put the controversy about Wilder's books in context. Fraser doesn't hide her own political leanings, as she weaves her rejection of Ayn Rand's philosophy into the discussion of Rose's friendship with Rand and Rose's editing of Laura's later books to introduce Randian themes. I found that enlightening and interesting. Some people won't agree. Read this book if you are a fan of Wilder's books. If you know Wilder only from the TV series, read Wilder's books first. (I thoroughly enjoyed Fraser's take-down of the TV series, which I never saw but did read about.) I enjoyed Prairie Fire. It didn't make me dislike Wilder's books, or even have a lower opinion of Laura - - though it certainly didn't make me like Rose. I'm giving it four rather than five stars because of a little discomfort with how openly the author's biases, most of which I actually share, are expressed.