Williamsburg Regional Library

Prairie fires, the American dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caroline Fraser

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages [517]-602) and index

individual biography

mapsplatesillustrations

index present

non fiction

Prairie fires

bibliography

967973350

Caroline Fraser

the American dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder

The first comprehensive historical biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the beloved author of the Little House on the Prairie book series. Millions of readers of Little House on the 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 story 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 Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser-the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House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, setting the record straight regarding charges of ghostwriting that have swirled around the books and uncovering the grown-up story behind the most influential childhood epic of pioneer life. Set against nearly a century of epochal change, from the Homestead Act and the Indian Wars to the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, Wilder's dramatic life provides a unique perspective on American history and our national mythology of self-reliance. Offering fresh insight and new discoveries about Wilder's life and times, Prairie Fires is the definitive book about Wilder and her world

Part I: The pioneer -- Maiden rock -- Indian summers -- Crying hard times -- God hates a coward -- Don't leave the farm, boys -- Part II: The exile -- A world made -- As a farm woman thinks -- The absent ones -- Pioneer girl -- Part III: The dream -- A ruined country -- Dusty old dust -- We are all here -- Sunshine and shadow -- There is gold in the farm

adult