TEST
I must confess that when I read the Little House books, Ma Ingalls was never my favorite character. Her hackles-raised reaction at the mention of Native Americans didn’t sit well with me, and she always seemed a bit stiff and humorless compared to Pa. But I did enjoy the books, so when I saw there was a retelling of Little House on the Prairie, told from her perspective, I checked it out and am glad I did. Caroline: Little House Revisited was a vivid and absorbing read.
The story begins with Caroline Ingalls learning that her husband Charles has managed to sell their property in Wisconsin, because he dreams of traveling to the prairies of Kansas. And the sooner they leave, the sooner they’ll own their own land in Kansas. Caroline is pregnant and has two small children to take care of, but she can see how invested Charles is in this, emotionally as well as financially. So even though it’s wrenching to leave her parents and siblings, and even though she has no idea what life in Kansas will be like – or even whether there’ll be a woman there who can help her with the birth – she makes the best of it.
This is not a tightly plotted book, and if you’ve read Little House on the Prairie, you already know what happens – the river crossing, building a log cabin, Mr. Edwards’ encounter with Santa Claus and so on. What makes a difference, though, is seeing it all from the perspective of a woman who cooks, cleans, mends, helps her husband, soothes and cares for two children under the age of six, and struggles to stay consistently cheerful, practical, and alert as they travel for day after day through unfamiliar land. Pa might have hitched his wagon to a star, but Ma was the one who stitched the wagon-cover and made sure they all had something to eat.
So I found myself liking her more, and even her prim and proper-ness was understandable. After leaving Wisconsin, she has no extended family, no friends, and no community at all. It’s just her, her husband and daughters under an endless sweep of sky. Of course she’s going to hold on all the harder to what she finds familiar and safe, whether that’s making sure Mary only wears blue hair ribbons or telling Laura not to point.
Caroline is a very introspective person, and this book brings that aspect of her to life.
She laid the drying clothes out like paper dolls on the grass… Charles in brown and green, herself and Mary in shades of blue, and Laura’s little sprigged calico in just the bold shade of red Caroline longed to wear. Together all of them gently bent the grass, so that Caroline saw the soft imprint of her family on the land.
Most of the time this works very well, but occasionally it verged on navel-gazing. I felt the author tried to imbue too many events with an emotional charge or a philosophical reflection, and this made the book feel longer and slow-paced. I was also slightly disappointed that the story ends with the family having to leave Kansas, because my favorite book in the series was On the Banks of Plum Creek, and I would have loved to read that from Caroline’s perspective.
Ms. Miller has clearly done a great deal of research, which results in a well-realized and vividly depicted world. Linseed oil used for waterproofing, apple cider vinegar dabbed on mosquito bites to stop itching, the taste of Indian breadroot. Reading this was an incredibly immersive experience, though occasionally this wasn’t a good thing. I didn’t want or enjoy the details of the family’s bathroom arrangements. And at another point, when prolonged heavy rain turns the ground to a mud slick, the family isn’t able to travel. The story captures the cabin-fever experience of being stuck in a wagon for days, not to mention having to scrape mossy mold off bacon thanks to the dampness, but they sit there shivering in the wagon for thirty pages.
Thirty pages. Never mind the Ingalls, I felt a little stir-crazy myself.
On the whole, though, this novel earns a strong recommendation. I enjoyed reading about Caroline’s relationship with Charles, her daily work, and the descriptions of food that made my mouth water. Not to mention all the wonder and danger of the land she hopes will be their new home. Caroline: Little House, Revisited should appeal to Little House fans, and even if you’re not, give this book a try. For the most part, I think you’ll like it.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Visit our Amazon Storefront
Grade: B+
Book Type: Historical Fiction
Sensuality: Subtle
Review Date: 06/10/19
Publication Date: 09/2017
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I'm Marian, originally from Sri Lanka but grew up in the United Arab Emirates, studied in Georgia and Texas, ended up in Toronto. When I'm not at my job as a medical laboratory technologist, I read, write, do calligraphy, and grow vegetables in the back yard.
Related Reviews
This is on my TBR pile; Glad it’s good!
Having read all the Little House books and several of the related non-fiction books about Laura Ingalls Wilder, I think of Charles as a bit of a rolling stone, always uncomfortable once he started putting down roots. I also wonder if one of the reasons Laura married Almanzo at such a relatively young age was because she didn’t really like teaching; teaching was Caroline’s (and later, Mary’s) dream, not Laura’s. I loved the Little House books when I read them, but I don’t think older me would like to revisit. I suspect I would see more dysfunction and undiagnosed conditions than I’d be comfortable with. And I fully agree—we don’t need to read about the family’s bathroom arrangements. Let’s leave something behind closed doors!
I read them to my kids–all now in their 20s–and still loved them even with all their flaws. (The books… and the kids!)
@Dabney: Ditto for Anne of Green Gables. (One of my daughters is on the autism spectrum and she swears Anne has Asperger’s.)
I found so much joy in reading the classics of my childhood/teens to my kids. The Little House books, The Prydain Chronicles, His Dark Materials; these, along with Harry Potter, The Kingkiller Chronicles, The D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek/Norse Myths, and The Abhorsen series are all touchstones for life we still reference.
The most cringeworthy moment for me was the public entertainment where Pa and a few other men dress up in blackface, with grinning faces and “big red mouths”. I know that sort of thing happened in the past, but it’s unpleasant to read, especially from the viewpoint of people who think it’s just fine.
Another part I find difficult to reread is when Mr. Boast offers Laura and Almanzo a horse in exchange for their baby daughter, because Mr. and Mrs. Boast can’t have children. I liked the Boast family, and I sympathize with wanting children but being unable to have them, but… he seriously thought they would entertain that suggestion?
I am old and I am comfortable with things written in the past that I wouldn’t be today.
It’s important to have reminders of these kinds of attitudes because they existed, they were real, and we need to acknowledge them. Nothing ever changes if we don’t.
As a person of color, I unfortunately see those attitudes so much in real life that I just can’t be comfortable with seeing them in the fiction I read as well. Just my preference in what I read.
I get that; when you read for pleasure you want it to be pleasurable. Makes sense to me!
All I’m saying is that we shouldn’t avoid the reality of our history. We can’t change it, but we can learn from it. The racism, homophobia, and misogyny of our past are facts, and those attitudes will crop up in older fiction. Even if we hate it, we need to understand it, if only to prevent it from happening ever again. Those writers were just projecting the attitudes of their times, as vile as those attitudes may have been. Running across that kind of thing in fiction creates a teachable moment, not only for ourselves but for our children.
My discomfort is not with racism per se, otherwise I would not have enjoyed books like Courtney Milan’s The Heiress Effect. It’s with an unthinking acceptance of that racism, where neither the viewpoint characters nor the author see anything wrong. If other readers derive benefit out of books that express this, that’s great for them, but I prefer media where the racism is handled in a different way. I’m sure that can also provide teachable moments, without the negative impact on people like myself.
I’m definitely going to try this. After the Little House books were published, someone wrote a series about Caroline and then Caroline’s mother and grandmother. They were well done. It was interesting to read that Caroline came from a fairly middle class family and that she had indoor plumbing in her family home in Wisconsin. Indoor plumbing! I hope Charles was worth it!
Have you read Prairie Fires? I found it fascinating.
Thanks for the rec! It looks like a great read.