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Laura's Rose
What happened next in the Little House series? William Anderson s research and writing helps fill in the gaps of the famous pioneer family story, which has been loved for generations. Laura Ingalls Wilder s books describe her own family s life as they traveled through the American heartland in search of a home. William Anderson has picked up the story, telling of the later lives of the Ingalls and Wilder families. Illustrated with historic photos and family pictures, these titles are a perfect complement to Little House on the Prairie and the many other titles made famous by Laura Ingalls Wilder."
46 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1984
72 people want to read
About the author
William Anderson
39 books64 followersWilliam Anderson is an American author, historian and lecturer. He is a specialist in the subject of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her times.
His interest in American frontier began after reading Little House on the Prairie. He is a director of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri, and he lives and works as a teacher in Michigan.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
His interest in American frontier began after reading Little House on the Prairie. He is a director of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri, and he lives and works as a teacher in Michigan.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 1, 2021
Nice, compact biography with photos of the adventuresome, progressive and proto-Libertarian Rose Wilder Lane. I was fascinated by arc of her life from pioneer child to foreign reporter to self-sufficient warrior against the New Deal. I was also pleased to learn she built on her success as an author to encourage writing to come out of her mother Laura Ingalls Wilder.
July 7, 2015
First written in 1976, this was written before pretty much anything had been researched about Rose. So anything "scandalous" isn't in here. However, it's a great introduction to a fascinating woman.
August 22, 2016
Short and sweet summary of Rose's life.
July 8, 2025
This was an interesting look into the life of the daughter of one of my favorite authors, Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose assistance was instrumental in getting the "Little House" series published (Rose might have ghost-written much of it, who knows). This book gives me some insights into Rose, in the last few pages, there is a telling story from when Rose was a child and she told her grandma (Ma) that she would have liked to be there when Jesus was crucified. Ma, a very pious person, was touched, until Rose when on to explain, "so I could curse Jesus and be the Wandering Jew." o_O
Some of Rose's beliefs in her later years about libertarianism and anti-Communism are a bit jarring. On the one hand, I can see how she might bristle at people waiting in soup lines during The Great Depression when as a pioneer child she went out and picked berries for 10 cents a bucket when money was tight. And she did see the negative sides of communism through her travels to thoroughly corrupt countries who claimed to be communist at the time. But what is a person to do when you live somewhere where there are no berries to pick, when you live in a tenement with no 3 acre plot of land to garden and preserve your excess produce as she suggests? Well, I guess that is your chance to learn an important lesson about the importance of hard work by starving! You can starve and be grateful that at least you are FREE from the government, in her estimation. Oh, the glories of being FREE to lose your teeth because you can't afford to see a dentist, the FREEDOM to die of preventable diseases because you can't afford healthy food or medical care while billionaires get tax breaks so they can go to space more for funsies, the FREEDOM work at jobs that suck away your time and soul yet will never cover all your living expenses because you can't afford schooling or housing or transportation or childcare to get something better... ahhh, yes... glorious FREEDOM! The freedom to vote for representatives who will take our money in taxes--not to improve our lives in any measurable way, but to bomb countries that are getting too uppity or to hire more pseudo-military police forces to round up people to fill America's for-profit prisons and concentration camps.
Although I admire Rose's tenacity and prolificness at writing, I suspect she would be a MAGA person today with her belief that people can pick themselves up by the bootstraps, forgetting the fact that her parents got free land from the government thanks to the genocide of 9+/- million Indigenous people. Yes, pioneers had to work the land and overcome brutal odds, but it was a unique opportunity for people to become landowners who would not have been able to own that much land otherwise, an opportunity that history will not repeat unless humans find ways to colonize other planets, I suppose. (Or unless the government wants to use people to help with a genocide by giving a favored group the rights to the land the other people are subsisting off of...) Rose claims this free land wasn't a hand-out, but it inarguably was a hand-up for those who were lucky and tenacious enough to make a go of it. It fits into the paradigm of "I got mine, too bad you didn't get yours, that's your own fault, it must be because you are inferior to me that you haven't achieved what I have, despite the fact that I have had a different set of experiences, advantages, and luck than you." So, yes, she was a very modern woman for her time.
While I don't know how much Rose and I would get along as individuals, and this book did have some little typos and weirdness of print here and there, I was still fascinated to learn more about Rose and the Wilder family. This is a quick read that "Little House" superfans will glean many insights from. The "Little House" books get shunned more and more these days due to the pioneers' treatment of Indigenous people, so, much like "Gone With the Wind," savvy, "woke" readers can use books like this to help them understand the mindset of others who perpetrated such crimes on their fellow humans and how those mindsets are still entrenched and glorified by our society--and yet, their mindset, though narrow, is still and interesting escape if you allow yourself to recognize their worldview for what it is/was, and the necessity for everyone to expand their circle of empathy. Traveling the world and learning how to write in Latin is not enough to be truly educated, because as Rose Wilder demonstrates, you can do those things and achieve much--and still not understand how others can be different from you.
Some of Rose's beliefs in her later years about libertarianism and anti-Communism are a bit jarring. On the one hand, I can see how she might bristle at people waiting in soup lines during The Great Depression when as a pioneer child she went out and picked berries for 10 cents a bucket when money was tight. And she did see the negative sides of communism through her travels to thoroughly corrupt countries who claimed to be communist at the time. But what is a person to do when you live somewhere where there are no berries to pick, when you live in a tenement with no 3 acre plot of land to garden and preserve your excess produce as she suggests? Well, I guess that is your chance to learn an important lesson about the importance of hard work by starving! You can starve and be grateful that at least you are FREE from the government, in her estimation. Oh, the glories of being FREE to lose your teeth because you can't afford to see a dentist, the FREEDOM to die of preventable diseases because you can't afford healthy food or medical care while billionaires get tax breaks so they can go to space more for funsies, the FREEDOM work at jobs that suck away your time and soul yet will never cover all your living expenses because you can't afford schooling or housing or transportation or childcare to get something better... ahhh, yes... glorious FREEDOM! The freedom to vote for representatives who will take our money in taxes--not to improve our lives in any measurable way, but to bomb countries that are getting too uppity or to hire more pseudo-military police forces to round up people to fill America's for-profit prisons and concentration camps.
Although I admire Rose's tenacity and prolificness at writing, I suspect she would be a MAGA person today with her belief that people can pick themselves up by the bootstraps, forgetting the fact that her parents got free land from the government thanks to the genocide of 9+/- million Indigenous people. Yes, pioneers had to work the land and overcome brutal odds, but it was a unique opportunity for people to become landowners who would not have been able to own that much land otherwise, an opportunity that history will not repeat unless humans find ways to colonize other planets, I suppose. (Or unless the government wants to use people to help with a genocide by giving a favored group the rights to the land the other people are subsisting off of...) Rose claims this free land wasn't a hand-out, but it inarguably was a hand-up for those who were lucky and tenacious enough to make a go of it. It fits into the paradigm of "I got mine, too bad you didn't get yours, that's your own fault, it must be because you are inferior to me that you haven't achieved what I have, despite the fact that I have had a different set of experiences, advantages, and luck than you." So, yes, she was a very modern woman for her time.
While I don't know how much Rose and I would get along as individuals, and this book did have some little typos and weirdness of print here and there, I was still fascinated to learn more about Rose and the Wilder family. This is a quick read that "Little House" superfans will glean many insights from. The "Little House" books get shunned more and more these days due to the pioneers' treatment of Indigenous people, so, much like "Gone With the Wind," savvy, "woke" readers can use books like this to help them understand the mindset of others who perpetrated such crimes on their fellow humans and how those mindsets are still entrenched and glorified by our society--and yet, their mindset, though narrow, is still and interesting escape if you allow yourself to recognize their worldview for what it is/was, and the necessity for everyone to expand their circle of empathy. Traveling the world and learning how to write in Latin is not enough to be truly educated, because as Rose Wilder demonstrates, you can do those things and achieve much--and still not understand how others can be different from you.
December 11, 2022
This writer knew who he was writing about extremely well! I didn't realize Rose was such a freedom lover. Most books leave her off when she is a Communist and I think that is purposeful. A lot of interesting insights into what control the Communists already had of the US so many years ago already. Rose made great sacrifices to fight it, and her story is inspirational.
September 7, 2008
What a fun treat for someone who is a Little House fan and has recently reread the series with her daughter (Now starting it again with my son). Rose was something else and declared way back in the thirties and fourties where this country was headed and she was right on the nose. I look forward to reading some of her work.
December 15, 2016
Short but very informative
April 1, 2018
I enjoyed this book which gave the back story of Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Interesting that she accomplished much more in her life in terms of travel and writing than her mother, BUT her mother is the one who will be most remembered.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews