Caroline: Little House, Revisited
Summary (from the publisher): In this novel authorized by the Little House estate, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before—Caroline Ingalls, "Ma" in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books.
In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril.
The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline’s new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles’ hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.
For more than eighty years, generations of readers have been enchanted by the adventures of the American frontier’s most famous child, Laura Ingalls Wilder, in the Little House books. Now, that familiar story is retold in this captivating tale of family, fidelity, hardship, love, and survival that vividly reimagines our past.
In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril.
The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline’s new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles’ hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.
For more than eighty years, generations of readers have been enchanted by the adventures of the American frontier’s most famous child, Laura Ingalls Wilder, in the Little House books. Now, that familiar story is retold in this captivating tale of family, fidelity, hardship, love, and survival that vividly reimagines our past.
Review: This novel revisits the beloved family from the Little House books to recreate the story from the perspective of 'Ma' or Caroline Ingalls. In particular, this novel follows the Ingalls family as they leave Wisconsin in 1870 by covered wagon and head west to Kansas. Life is rough for a wife and mother on the prairie and the worries that Caroline feels for the health and safety of her family are fully in evidence, as are the dangers of childbirth and sickness when isolated on the frontier.
I am a longtime fan of the Little House family and so of course was caught up in my own childhood nostalgia while reading this novel. I do like that this novel is from an adult perspective, so the reader is able to see the very real fears and threats that Caroline has for her family. While Caroline's character is congruent with that in the original Wilder novels, it was alarming and almost unnatural to see how buttoned up and closed off she seems even when the novel shows her own perspective. She rarely even voices her opinions or thoughts to her husband. Caroline is extremely controlled in all her movements, her emotions, her interactions with her family, clearly viewing the display of visible emotions as indecorous and unseemly.
Yet Charles and Caroline are depicted as having an intense, and sexually passionate marriage, but one devoid of much conversation and fully dependent on Caroline mutely following Charles' lead. Of course, given that this was 1870, marital dynamics were far different than they are today, but it was still a bit disconcerting to see Caroline internally berate herself for feeling frustration with her husband and only ever meekly following his decisions. She clearly worships him, but he appears to treat her likewise. The sexual quality of this novel, while never totally explicit, surprised me, although it was nice to think of Ma and Pa having a deep and loving relationship. In addition, although historically accurate, it was a bit alarming to read about the Ingalls dislike of the Native Americans and to witness Caroline praying for them to leave, while never recognizing or acknowledging that the land that she was now living on was originally their home.
Overall, this was a sweet novel that explored the beloved classic novel from a different and fresh perspective. It was sad that the novel had to end on such a sad note after all their hard work, but this novel is based on the real life and events of the Ingalls family. I am surprised it took this many years for a novel about Caroline to surface and glad she finally has a fictional depiction of her own.
Stars: 3.5
Related Titles:
- The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson
- Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Bibliography by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert
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