WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW‘S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR The first comprehensive historical biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the beloved author of the Little House on the Prairie books Millions of readers of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls–the pioneer girl who survived blizzards … Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls–the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true saga of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser–the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House series–masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder’s biography. Revealing the grown-up story behind the most influential childhood epic of pioneer life, she also chronicles Wilder’s tumultuous relationship with her journalist daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, setting the record straight regarding charges of ghostwriting that have swirled around the books.
The Little House books, for all the hardships they describe, are paeans to the pioneer spirit, portraying it as triumphant against all odds. But Wilder’s real life was harder and grittier than that, a story of relentless struggle, rootlessness, and poverty. It was only in her sixties, after losing nearly everything in the Great Depression, that she turned to children’s books, recasting her hardscrabble childhood as a celebratory vision of homesteading–and achieving fame and fortune in the process, in one of the most astonishing rags-to-riches episodes in American letters.
Spanning nearly a century of epochal change, from the Indian Wars to the Dust Bowl, Wilder’s dramatic life provides a unique perspective on American history and our national mythology of self-reliance. With fresh insights and new discoveries, Prairie Fires reveals the complex woman whose classic stories grip us to this day.
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Like so many other women, I’ve long been fascinated by Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose Little House series shaped my view of the settling of the American west. But it was not until I read Prairie Fires that I realized how much I didn’t know. As a fellow historian, I know good research when I see it, and I was in awe of the author’s command of her subject, her fascinating insights, and the way she helped me see the world of Laura Ingalls Wilder in an entirely new way! So good!
I decided to give this book a shot because it was a BookBub deal, I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was a kid, and it won the Pulitzer Prize. But I was worried it would turn out to be a thoroughly researched, well-written history with little bearing on today’s world.
Prairie Fires is both deeply researched and well written; to my surprise and delight, it is also very relevant to today’s world. Prairie Fires covers a lot and can be read many ways, but I was most struck by the extent to which it calls out dishonesty in the American pioneer spirit that Wilder’s books represent and that shapes our current political discourse.
Prairie Fires shows that pioneers, at least the Wilders and their contemporaries, did not carve successful lives out of the land on their own. They were the beneficiaries of federal government handouts (the Homestead Act and farm loans) and they had tragic lives, enduring man-made environmental disaster (the dust bowl) and capitalist swindles (railroad and real estate boondoggles).
Very well researched biographical writing about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family.
This is an extraordinary biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It challenges many of the myths that surround the Little House books and the time period. It also includes a good deal of pioneer history as well as information about Rose Wilder, whom I can’t say I liked by the end of the book. But Laura and Rose’s work was so entangled, I could see how it would be hard to separate the two in the biography. Much of the personal information comes from Rose, which tells readers how reticent Laura was when it came to sharing details about her personal life. Highly recommend for people interested in the time period or Laura’s work.
If you grew up loving the “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, then you’ll love this book…it’s perhaps the best and most comprehensive biography of Wilder out there, chronicling her life through historical research, including a treasure trove of letters and other writing, and encompassing her legacy as well. Along the way, the reader gets a history of America “from below.” Also interesting is the account of Wilder’s only surviving child, Rose Lane — quite an interesting and provocative figure in her own right. This book was interesting enough, I’d probably read it again.
This book is well-documented to back up the content. It tells the real story of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the series of books she wrote. It also tells of the difficult relations ship of Laura with her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. The books have always been listed as fiction but I think a lot of people have felt the series was based on fact. Prairies Fires points out the true story where it differs from the book series content. It was a bit like having a bubble bursting even though it needed to pop. the book definitely deserved the many awards it received.
Loved learning the back story regarding Wilder’s family and how it influenced their decisions. Just learning about history in general during her lifetime.
This was more than just a story about Laura Ingalls Wilder–it was an in depth research of her entire family and the history of the time that she was living and how it affected her and her family. Very well done and well written. Fascinating!
Rich historical & environmental context. Fascinating.
Great! I learned more about the house on the prairie series
a very informative look into the real world of a beloved author
Having read all of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books as a child and really enjoyed them, I had always wondered about her as a person. This book offers the opportunity to know about her own childhood and adulthood. It explores not only her family and geographical circumstances, but also give insight into how her literary career developed and eventually produced the beloved “Little House” series. If one was a childhood fan and has the interest, this book might be just the one to read.
The author wrote about history, a topic usually dry to me, in such an enjoyable way it made it a really fun read.
For all Laura Ingells Wilder fans, this Pulitzer Prize winner is a must read
Caroline Fraser’s meticulously researched Prairie Fires took me back to the reading of my youth, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books. The project is immense, as Fraser takes on not only the life of Wilder, but her family history, that of her husband, and then their daughter, but also covers such sweeping territory as the Indian Wars, the New Deal, and the suffrage movement – essentially the entire landscape of Wilder’s life.
The most engaging parts of the book are those that deal with Wilder herself, and particularly the ways in which her life, though the basis for the Little House books, actually differed from it. (I was most intrigued by the ways in which she chose to polish and preserve her parents for posterity.) Fraser fills in many blanks, and also allows readers to follow Wilder out of the prairies and into the Ozarks, where she spent the better part of six decades. (By the end of her life, Wilder had been a southerner much longer than she’d been a pioneer!)
More than anything, Prairie Fires brought home succinctly just how recent pioneer days were in the grand scheme of time. I found myself returning time and again to the fact that original pioneers/settlers were still alive when my parents were learning to walk. Granted, those still living had been riding in the wagon and not driving it, but all the same.
Fraser also presents food for thought with her examination of the psyche of Wilder and many like her: forced to depend on government “handouts” they resented the government all the more for it. Such perspectives bear consideration in today’s time as much as they did in times past.
Prairie Fires starts rather slowly, and Fraser’s work is sometimes a bit too deep in the weeds, particularly regarding the wanderings and politics of Wilder’s only daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, but on the whole this is a worthy read for fans of Wilder who are interested in discovering the woman behind the myth.
Four stars.
(This review was originally published at https://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2019/07/prairie-fires-american-dreams-of-laura.html)
Very interesting book. Clarified many stories from the Little House books
If you are a life long fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder this book will provide information that will destroy the innocence of Little House on the Prairie. While the book provides an accurate timeline , as it places the stories in historical context. It begins to drag in the extensive portrayal of Ms. Ingalls early writing career.
It was more extensive and detailed than I expected. I learned a great deal about Laura Engles Wilder and her sister as well as a history of the American prairie settlement. The author tied in historical references with biographical information about Wilder and her daughter, Rose Lane.
From other books and biographies I already knew there was controversy on the authorship of the Little House books. However I feel this book goes too far in painting the political aspect of them. I’m not? Her point of view is fully correct based on correspondence, newspaper articles authored by Laura, and other memorabilia from Laura. I knew from other reviews this was a biased book but I wanted to see for myself. I’m not sorry I read it as I found the tone of the book changed at the end and was a bit more favorable to Laura. I did learn some new facts but I feel the Annotated Prairie Girl to be a better read about Laura and creating the Little House books.
I learned a lot about Laura Ingalls Wilder but wish less of the book was on Roses political opinions and her weird ideas.I had read bits and pieces in magazines.