Okay but no banana

Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman behind the Legend

by John E. Miller

Really good...until Rose grew up. Seriously, I mean it. The author did his stuff and churned out a delightful biography, but I think he really wanted to write a literary biography. If the title tells his intent, it was to describe how an ordinary girl with no apparent writing goals ended up being the children's author of the day, maybe of all time. And he couldn't. Or didn't, anyway.

 He did well with the history of her early life but I wanted more about the places, people and times. When you can't find letters or diaries to flesh out a portrait, you have to fall back on newspapers, magazines, and other writings of the times...but I can't see he did much of that. He just relayed the history; well-written, enjoyable, but not deeply satisfying. I prefer reading the annotations in Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography.

When Laura's writing career became the focus, it was clear he wanted to dig deep and see how in the world she pulled it off. Where did she start as a diarist, and how did she progress to a master storyteller? Did her non-fiction articles get editorial help, and if so, how did that develop her writing?  Why were some characters included and others suppressed? How did three real-life girls become one Nellie Oleson? How much of the book was written by Rose?  (Almost none; it seems, but she clearly had an influence.)

He tried to answer all these questions and more, but he didn't have a lot of first-hand material about Laura Ingalls Wilder--no diaries, not many letters except travel journals. However, he had plenty of material about Rose Wilder Lane and her writing career--and that's what he included. A lot of it. Her thoughts, feelings, personal angst, and anger at her parents.

Fine. I get that. It's what made her a writer. But it's not what made Laura Ingalls Wilder a writer.

All bellyaching aside, it's a good book. I just wish it had been titled, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder lane: The Women Behind the Legend.