Briefly Reviewed - Prairie Fires

Title:  Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder

Author:  Caroline Fraser
Edition:  Metropolitan Books, 2017
Setting:  American West
Genre:   Non Fiction

Never out of print, made into a television show, Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books are a well-known part of American culture.  If you've read "Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Biography" you may not think "Prairie Fires" would have anything left to tell.  But it does, very much so.  Caroline Fraser has done a tremendous amount of research in order to provide historical context for Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and writing. 

And there's so much here you've never read before, or perhaps you've read something in Wilder's books or about her life, but not really understood the ramifications of it.  I, as an example, never realized how truly poor the Wilder family was, nor how dependent they were on others for the betterment of their lives.  Fraser points out how much the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" philosophy stated in Wilder's books is in contrast to all the help they got: free land from the government, clothing from missionary barrels, help from friends and neighbors.  And Pa, the upstanding citizen?  Well, there was that midnight flight from the debts he owed in Iowa.  Funny how that never made it into the books.  Which brings me to another excellent aspect of Fraser's work: the actual writing of Wilder's books.  The tug of war between daughter (and oh, my! What a difficult and unlikable person she was!) and mother over what to write and how to present Laura's pioneer experiences is examined in depth.  That's quite a fascinating story. 

While discussing difficult and hard truths, Fraser never loses respect for Wilder's work and shows great understanding of her times and character.  If you'd like to read a well-researched, very accessible book that not only puts Wilder's life and work in historical context and perspective, but also let's you come as close to the real Laura as you'll ever get, this is that book.  Highly recommended. 

I received a copy from the publisher as part of the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.