A Wilder Rose By Susan Wittig Albert
Book Review by Jessica Coles
A Wilder Rose: Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Their Little Houses by Susan Wittig Albert copyright 2013 by Persevero Press.
Ms. Albert has brought forth a fictionalized accounting of the complicated relationship between Rose Wilder Lane and Laura Ingalls Wilder and an investigation of the idea that Laura was not the sole author of the Little House books. Laura Ingalls Wilder is best known for her popular Little House children’s series started in 1932, however, much controversy surrounds the actual authorship of the books. A Wilder Rose investigates the theory that Rose Lane was the actual ghostwriter of these novels mainly through a first person account of the time surrounding the writing of the Little House series. The resulting novel is an intimate view of day to day life of Rose Wilder Lane, her struggles with writing, money, family and freedom.
A Wilder Rose begins with an interview of Rose Wilder Lane soon after the publishing of the first four books (Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy and On the Banks of Plum Creek) has taken place. This quickly opens the stage for a first person account told through the eyes of Rose Wilder Lane from 1928 to 1939. Ms. Albert has based this accounting on diaries, journals and letters available from the time although she clearly states that the result is fiction.
The historical setting and timeline of the novel is accurate and intimately illustrated. Although the reader cannot know exactly how true Ms. Albert stays to the primary sources, she often quotes from the materials.
The book portrays a very dark period of time for the United States. The stock market crash of 1929, the resulting Depression, Dust Bowl and the Dirty Thirties were themselves very dark times. Even allowing for this setting, much of the book seems to have a consistently negative view of the surroundings and the relationship between mother and daughter. This relationship is quite stagnant in the novel, giving a one dimensional view of Laura and Rose’s interactions. However, this is quite likely a vivid look into this historical era.
While it is set in the time of the stock market crash of 1929 and FDR’s New Deal policies, this novel shows the warring of Midwest farming families against the agricultural changes that took place in the 1930s.These struggles are quite relevant to today’s arguments of the balance between individual freedom and independence and the federal government’s involvement in the lives of citizens.
While a fictional accounting of the two women, this novel is an amazing and informative glimpse into the world of a talented author, a loving but conflicted daughter, and a woman who longed to take care of family while still dreaming of freedom. Both the narration and the subject matter have been woven into a fascinating journey for the reader. Fans of the Little House series will find themselves reliving the moments when they first stepped into Laura’s world and glimpsing the reality behind the stories. The magic that was created during the first foray into the books is not lost in A Wilder Rose but rather enhanced and deepened.