Synopses & Reviews
Although generations of readers of the Little House books are familiar with Laura Ingalls Wilderandrsquo;s early life up through her first years of marriage to Almanzo Wilder, few know about her adult years. Going beyond previous studies, Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder focuses upon Wilderandrsquo;s years in Missouri from 1894 to 1957. Utilizing her unpublished autobiography, letters, newspaper stories, and other documentary evidence, John E. Miller fills the gaps in Wilderandrsquo;s autobiographical novels and describes her sixty-three years of living in Mansfield, Missouri. As a result, the process of personal development that culminated in Wilderandrsquo;s writing of the novels that secured her reputation as one of Americaandrsquo;s most popular childrenandrsquo;s authors becomes evident.
Review
“[Miller] draws on Wilder’s unpublished autobiography, existing letters written to her daughter and to her husband on the few occasions she traveled without him, and her fiction and ‘newspaper stories, local histories, land records,’ which he mines to create an impressively detailed context for her life. . . . Miller does not try to make her any more––or less––than she was, and that is the virtue of his biography.”––Washington Post Book World
Review
andldquo;Millerandrsquo;s absorbing new biography . . . puts the authorandrsquo;s early years in context before focusing on her adult life as a farmerandrsquo;s wife, mother, journalist and budding author. . . . Miller uncovers facts about Lauraandrsquo;s life that were not revealed in her own work, and he places her experience in a broader context. He makes her days on the frontier and the farm come alive with statistics on population and demographics as well as rich details about Indians and wildlife.andrdquo;andndash;andndash;In These Times
Review
andldquo;[Miller] draws on Wilderandrsquo;s unpublished autobiography, existing letters written to her daughter and to her husband on the few occasions she traveled without him, and her fiction and andlsquo;newspaper stories, local histories, land records,andrsquo; which he mines to create an impressively detailed context for her life. . . . Miller does not try to make her any moreandndash;andndash;or lessandndash;andndash;than she was, and that is the virtue of his biography.andrdquo;andndash;andndash;Washington Post Book World
andldquo;John E. Millerandrsquo;s scrupulous new biography of Wilder is a valuable and absorbing book.andrdquo; andndash;Ann Romines, Great Plains Quarterly
andldquo;Millerandrsquo;s thorough, riveting, work illuminates a complex process of authorship, and the mother and daughter behind it.andrdquo; andndash;Jane St. Anthony, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
andldquo;andhellip;An enjoyable portrait of a fascinating personality and her time.andrdquo; andndash;Jo Ellen Heil, Ventura County Starandldquo;Shedding new light on this remarkable woman, Miller demonstrates that Wilderandrsquo;s entire life was a process of becoming the woman we know as the beloved childrenandrsquo;s author.andrdquo; andndash;Robert H. Ferrell, American Bookseller
About the Author
“[Miller] draws on Wilder’s unpublished autobiography, existing letters written to her daughter and to her husband on the few occasions she traveled without him, and her fiction and ‘newspaper stories, local histories, land records,’ which he mines to create an impressively detailed context for her life. . . . Miller does not try to make her any more––or less––than she was, and that is the virtue of his biography.”––Washington Post Book World
“Miller’s absorbing new biography . . . puts the author’s early years in context before focusing on her adult life as a farmer’s wife, mother, journalist and budding author. . . . Miller uncovers facts about Laura’s life that were not revealed in her own work, and he places her experience in a broader context. He makes her days on the frontier and the farm come alive with statistics on population and demographics as well as rich details about Indians and wildlife.”––In These Times