People have asked if it felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder was reading over my shoulder as I wrote Caroline.
I did not have the audacity to imagine how supportive the Trust would be, nor how willing to peer beyond the veil of childhood nostalgia to explore the real-life territory Laura Ingalls Wilder herself chose to leave uncharted. Looking back, I wish I could sit down next to that fretful version of myself and pat her hand while she waited for a reply…then a request for sample chapters…and a decision that seemed like something out of a dream or a prayer.
It took me two weeks to write that letter, and at least two more days to summon the nerve to send it. It belonged to Little House Heritage Trust. I’d set my heart on writing Ma’s story and put in months researching pioneer life - everything down to learning to crochet, wearing a corset, sewing a calico dress, lending a hand in butchering livestock and wild game, rendering lard, frying salt pork, and roasting a rabbit - without ever realizing that the decision to write this book did not belong to me. How did she do it? And what was it like to carry that responsibility? That’s the story I wanted to tell. Their distinguishing characteristic is that they tell of great adventure and hardship with great peace.” ( 1) Ma is the embodiment of that serenity. How is that possible? I suspect the answer lies in one critic’s observation that “the Little House books breathe serenity. Yet the Little House series is renowned as emotional comfort food for generations of readers. For years they struggled against poverty, disease, and the elements. And believe me, there was a lot of slack. Laura Ingalls Wilder herself admitted that Pa was “no businessman,” as well as “inclined to be reckless.” When Charles’s schemes for a better life further on failed, Caroline Ingalls took up the slack. OL1719805W Page_number_confidence 93.21 Pages 326 Partner Innodata Ppi 300 Rcs_key 24143 Republisher_date 20200908164622 Republisher_operator Republisher_time 333 Scandate 20200904042831 Scanner Scanningcenter cebu Scribe3_search_catalog isbn Scribe3_search_id 0064400077 Tts_version 4.The more I learned about the realities of the Ingalls family’s history, the more I began to realize that Caroline Ingalls was the glue that held her family together. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 13:03:52 Associated-names Williams, Garth, ill Boxid IA1925621 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier
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