The Ghost in the Little House: A Life of Rose Wilder Lane (Missouri Biography Series) - Hardcover

Holtz, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826208878 ISBN 13: 9780826208873

Publisher: Univ of Missouri Pr, 1993

Synopsis

Traces the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter, describes her difficult relationship with her mother, and reveals her contributions to the "Little House" series of books

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Reviews

"Do anything you please with the damn stuff if you will fix it up," said Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House on the Prairie series, to her daughter Rose, who, according to Holtz's startling research, was the de facto author of her mother's books. Drawing on diaries and letters, Holtz, a professor of English at the University of Missouri, details Lane's life (1886-1968) in an engrossing study that highlights her troubled relationship with an apparently cold and manipulative mother. At 17, she fled her parents' farm in Missouri, married (and later divorced) Gillette Lane, and then traversed the globe, supporting herself as a journalist in New York, Baghdad and Albania, making friends with such writers as Floyd Dell and Dorothy Thompson. Guilt drove her back to the farm to help her parents until publication of the Little House series, under her mother's name--but heavily rewritten and edited by Rose--freed her financially. A believer in rugged individualism, Lane's treatise The Discovery of Freedom became the Bible of the Libertarian Party. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Big news in the Little House. As already reported in the press, Holtz (English/Missouri) maintains that Rose Wilder Lane was a silent partner to her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder, turning Laura's bland and shapeless memoirs into burnished literary reminiscences. Here, Holtz's respectful, penetrating, deeply detailed biography of the daughter documents her capacities as writer/editor, establishing plausible motivation and providing evidence (diary entries, letters) of the mutual deception. Missouri-born Rose left an impoverished home as soon as she could, married early and briefly, then began a writing career that took her to exotic places among famous people. But few works of quality emerged: Often writing ``under the lash of necessity,'' she lived a life full of sudden projects, bouts of depression, the occasional ``ethical slide,'' and a string of intense but failed relationships. Returning broke to the family farm in her mid-30s, she was drawn to a libertarian philosophy that colored her writing as she searched in vain for personal validation and financial security. At the same time, ``Mama Bess'' wrote short, undistinguished farm-wife pieces until, encouraged by Rose, she resumed a narrative on pioneer life. Although Rose coached her on structure and tone, the older woman could not incorporate these suggestions into her work. ``I know the music, but I can't think of the words,'' she admitted. Ultimately, Rose used her professional experience to turn her mother's recollections into publishable form, standardizing spelling and punctuation, changing the narrative from first person to third, and altering events for dramatic purposes and to suit her political principles. Nobody suspected the collaboration until scholars looking for the roots of Laura's ``untutored genius'' found little to support her transformation. An intimately argued and nonjudgmental presentation that well supports Holtz's contention that ``everything that makes the Little House books stand up and sing is what the daughter did to them.'' (Twenty-five illustrations--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Fans of the "Little House on the Prairie" series, which fictionalizes the life of the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, may be disappointed to discover that her works were actually ghostwritten by her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane (1886-1968). Thus asserts this well-researched study by Holtz (English, Univ. of Missouri-Columbia). Rose was a precocious girl with a flair for writing who found her mother to be puritanical and critical. This biography details Rose's forays into the world as she attempted to launch her own writing career. She experienced limited commercial success but often found herself financially and emotionally strained, especially in view of the demands of her parents. Rose injected her own populist ideas into her mother's work as she crafted her mother's rudimentary writings into the readable books that are still popular today. The tenuous relationship between mother and daughter offers additional interest in this book. Recommended for public libraries.
- Mary Ellen Beck, Troy P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Univ of Missouri Pr
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0826208878
• ISBN 13: 9780826208873
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400