Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder

Well, that was a wild ride.

I have always admired Laura Ingalls Wilder, since I was a little girl reading her historic fiction book series. Caroline Fraser does a fantastic job with this in-depth look at not only Laura, but also her daughter Rose Wilder Lane. Caroline goes into depth on the history that helped set the stage for Laura's life, and the history that helped set the stage for the whys and hows of Laura/Rose fictionalizing Laura's childhood.

The 1910s and 1920s were a bit of a slog to get through, but the rest of the book was great. If you only care about Laura, stop reading after Chapter 6 (the first chapter in part 2). Parts 2 & 3 have a lot to do with Rose Wilder Lane's mental health (she clearly struggled with at least bipolar disorder), and Rose's relationship to Laura. Rose was not a likeable person, which I found astonishing, given the lessons we know Laura took from Ma. In hindsight, perhaps this isn't terribly surprising, given that Laura likely had her hands full helping Almanzo keep up with the farm. Laura likely didn't have the energy/time to parent her young child, which could also explain all of the bitterness and resentment Rose felt towards her parents throughout her 81 years on this earth. 

Another review by aneidas mentions:

 It's interesting that Fraser seems to condemn Lane for her extreme political views but somewhat exonerates Wilder, who shared her daughter's libertarian beliefs... similar to the way Wilder excuses her father for his own poor decisions in her books.