
Prairie Fires : The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Paperback)
Key item features
- Award-Winning Biography: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, and Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Non-Fiction, recognized as one of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year.
- Comprehensive Account: The first comprehensive historical biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, offering a complete narrative of her life beyond the "Little House" books.
- New Discoveries: Utilizes unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and financial records to fill gaps in Wilder's biography and reveal new insights.
- Unvarnished Reality: Explores the true, harder, and grittier story of Wilder's life, contrasting it with the celebratory vision presented in her children's books.
- Daughter's Relationship: Chronicles the tumultuous relationship between Laura Ingalls Wilder and her journalist daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, addressing ghostwriting allegations.
- Historical Context: Spans nearly a century of American history, from the Indian Wars to the Dust Bowl, providing a unique perspective on national mythology.
- Late-Life Success: Details Wilder's astonishing rags-to-riches story, achieving fame and fortune in her sixties after turning to children's books during the Great Depression.
Specs
- Book formatPaperback
- Fiction/nonfictionNon-Fiction
- GenreLiterary Figures, Historical, Women
- Pub date2018-08-07
- Pages656
- Reading levelGeneral
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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
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD
WINNER OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE HEARTLAND PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
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 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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| Book format | PaperbackPrairie Fires : The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Paperback) | PaperbackLaura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, (Paperback) | PaperbackYou Can Take The Girl From The Prairie, (Paperback) | PaperbackLady Caroline Lamb: A Free Spirit, (Paperback) | HardcoverPioneer Girl, (Hardcover) | PaperbackLittle House Nonfiction A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America, (Paperback) | PaperbackLike Home, (Paperback) | PaperbackBeneath the Woodland Stars, (Paperback) | PaperbackPioneer Girl: A True Story of Growing Up on the Prairie, (Paperback) | PaperbackBuilding Bright Minds, (Paperback) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiction/nonfiction | Non-FictionPrairie Fires : The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Paperback) | Non-FictionLaura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, (Paperback) | Non-FictionYou Can Take The Girl From The Prairie, (Paperback) | Non-FictionLady Caroline Lamb: A Free Spirit, (Paperback) | Non-FictionPioneer Girl, (Hardcover) | Non-FictionLittle House Nonfiction A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America, (Paperback) | Non-FictionLike Home, (Paperback) | Non-FictionBeneath the Woodland Stars, (Paperback) | Non-FictionPioneer Girl: A True Story of Growing Up on the Prairie, (Paperback) | Non-FictionBuilding Bright Minds, (Paperback) |
| Genre | Literary FiguresPrairie Fires : The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Paperback) | Biography & MemoirsLaura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, (Paperback) | Biography & MemoirsYou Can Take The Girl From The Prairie, (Paperback) | Biography & MemoirsLady Caroline Lamb: A Free Spirit, (Paperback) | Biography & MemoirsPioneer Girl, (Hardcover) | Children's BooksLittle House Nonfiction A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America, (Paperback) | Parenting & FamiliesLike Home, (Paperback) | Biography & MemoirsBeneath the Woodland Stars, (Paperback) | Children's BooksPioneer Girl: A True Story of Growing Up on the Prairie, (Paperback) | Parenting & FamiliesBuilding Bright Minds, (Paperback) |
| Pub date | 2018-08-07Prairie Fires : The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Paperback) | 1977-05-01Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, (Paperback) | -You Can Take The Girl From The Prairie, (Paperback) | -Lady Caroline Lamb: A Free Spirit, (Paperback) | -Pioneer Girl, (Hardcover) | 2011-01-25Little House Nonfiction A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America, (Paperback) | 20250317Like Home, (Paperback) | 2024-07-10Beneath the Woodland Stars, (Paperback) | 2009-09-01Pioneer Girl: A True Story of Growing Up on the Prairie, (Paperback) | 2024-05-23Building Bright Minds, (Paperback) |
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I was expecting this book to be more about Laura Ingalls Wilder, but it was more about her daughter Rose Wilder Lane. It was a disappointment to me to read this and to see that Laura's daughter, was nothing like Laura what so ever. It seemed like the author, was intent on making Rose out to be a depressed, selfish woman who had no feelings or compassion towards others in no way what so ever










