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Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane: Authorship, Place, Time, and Culture
The mother-daughter partnership that produced the Little House books has fascinated scholars and readers alike. Now, John E. Miller, one of America’s leading authorities on Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane, combines analyses of both women to explore this collaborative process and shows how their books reflect the authors’ distinctive views of place, time, and culture. Along the way, he addresses the two most controversial issues for Wilder/Lane how much did Lane actually contribute to the writing of the Little House books, and what was Wilder’s real attitude toward American Indians.
Interpreting these writers in their larger historical and cultural contexts, Miller reconsiders their formidable artistic, political, and literary contributions to American cultural life in the 1930s. He looks at what was happening in 1932—from depression conditions and politics to chain stores and celebrity culture—to shed light on Wilder’s life, and he shows how actual “little houses” established ideas of home that resonated emotionally for both writers.
In considering each woman’s ties to history, Miller compares Wilder with Frederick Jackson Turner as a frontier mythmaker and examines Lane’s unpublished history of Missouri in the context of a contemporaneous project, Thomas Hart Benton’s famous Jefferson City mural. He also looks at Wilder’s Missouri Ruralist columns to assess her pre–Little House values and writing skills, and he readdresses her literary treatment of Native Americans. A final chapter shows how Wilder’s and Lane’s conservative political views found expression in their work, separating Lane’s more libertarian bent from Wilder’s focus on writing moralist children’s fiction.
These nine thoughtful essays expand the critical discussion on Wilder and Lane beyond the Little House. Miller portrays them as impassioned and dedicated writers who were deeply involved in the historical changes and political challenges of their times—and contends that questions over the books’ authorship do not do justice to either woman’s creative investment in the series. Miller demystifies the aura of nostalgia that often prevents modern readers from seeing Wilder as a real-life woman, and he depicts Lane as a kindred artistic spirit, helping readers better understand mother and daughter as both women and authors.
Interpreting these writers in their larger historical and cultural contexts, Miller reconsiders their formidable artistic, political, and literary contributions to American cultural life in the 1930s. He looks at what was happening in 1932—from depression conditions and politics to chain stores and celebrity culture—to shed light on Wilder’s life, and he shows how actual “little houses” established ideas of home that resonated emotionally for both writers.
In considering each woman’s ties to history, Miller compares Wilder with Frederick Jackson Turner as a frontier mythmaker and examines Lane’s unpublished history of Missouri in the context of a contemporaneous project, Thomas Hart Benton’s famous Jefferson City mural. He also looks at Wilder’s Missouri Ruralist columns to assess her pre–Little House values and writing skills, and he readdresses her literary treatment of Native Americans. A final chapter shows how Wilder’s and Lane’s conservative political views found expression in their work, separating Lane’s more libertarian bent from Wilder’s focus on writing moralist children’s fiction.
These nine thoughtful essays expand the critical discussion on Wilder and Lane beyond the Little House. Miller portrays them as impassioned and dedicated writers who were deeply involved in the historical changes and political challenges of their times—and contends that questions over the books’ authorship do not do justice to either woman’s creative investment in the series. Miller demystifies the aura of nostalgia that often prevents modern readers from seeing Wilder as a real-life woman, and he depicts Lane as a kindred artistic spirit, helping readers better understand mother and daughter as both women and authors.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2008
About the author
John E. Miller
138 books2 followersJohn E. Miller was an American historian and longtime professor at South Dakota State University, where he taught courses in U.S. history, South Dakota history, and historical methods from 1974 until his retirement in 2003, later continuing briefly as adjunct faculty. Educated at the University of Missouri and the University of Wisconsin, he also served in the U.S. Army and taught overseas before beginning his academic career. A prolific scholar, he wrote extensively on Midwestern history, politics, creativity, and small town culture, and became especially known for his studies of Laura Ingalls Wilder. His books include Looking for History on Highway 14, Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Democracy's Troubles. Miller conducted numerous oral history interviews and contributed to major historical projects and organizations. Over his career, he received multiple awards recognizing his scholarship, including honors from regional historical societies and academic institutions, and was widely respected for his teaching, research, and engagement with public history.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 6, 2015
Very interesting if rather academic, undergraduate class-ish, essays placing Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane in historical context and in relation to other thinkers, writers, people of their age. He clearly has a soft spot for Laura and even for Rose, who strikes me as quite full of herself and unlikeable. I mainly read it because I'm anxiously awaiting my copy of Pioneer Girl, Laura's previously unpublished memoir that came before the Little House books.
Most interesting essay in this book was surely the one on the central importance of home in both Laura and Rose's works. Both metaphorical home and all of those little houses.
from that chapter:
"the potential of a thing mattered as much as the reality."
"A writer must have a place where he or she feels this, a place to love and be irritated with...It is difficult to impose a story and a plot on a place. however, truly knowing a place forms the suggestive basis for every kind of linking circumstance. Location, whether it is to abandon it or draw it sharply, is where we start."
He says that Lane never felt fully at home anywhere she lived...which is an interesting notion in terms of my own internal struggles with the meaning of home and belonging.
Lane wrote to her friend Guy Moyston: "The truth is no doubt that I must accustom myself to beign homesick, wherever I am. There are so many plaes that keep so much of me, that there isn't any one of them that can make me feel altogether at home anymore."
"Laura understood that a house containsa spirit dwelling within it that reflects the attitudes, values and behaviors of the people who inhabit it."
Lane wrote in her journal, "The world is too big for me to grasp and handle. I don't know anything about the world; about history or geography or philosophy. I don't know anything about any part of life, because I've never lived any of it; I've only muddled about in dreams. Does everyone muddle about in dreams?"
Lane wrote, "There is satisfaction in baking your own bread and growing your own food and canning it that cannot be found in writing a novel."
Most interesting essay in this book was surely the one on the central importance of home in both Laura and Rose's works. Both metaphorical home and all of those little houses.
from that chapter:
"the potential of a thing mattered as much as the reality."
"A writer must have a place where he or she feels this, a place to love and be irritated with...It is difficult to impose a story and a plot on a place. however, truly knowing a place forms the suggestive basis for every kind of linking circumstance. Location, whether it is to abandon it or draw it sharply, is where we start."
He says that Lane never felt fully at home anywhere she lived...which is an interesting notion in terms of my own internal struggles with the meaning of home and belonging.
Lane wrote to her friend Guy Moyston: "The truth is no doubt that I must accustom myself to beign homesick, wherever I am. There are so many plaes that keep so much of me, that there isn't any one of them that can make me feel altogether at home anymore."
"Laura understood that a house containsa spirit dwelling within it that reflects the attitudes, values and behaviors of the people who inhabit it."
Lane wrote in her journal, "The world is too big for me to grasp and handle. I don't know anything about the world; about history or geography or philosophy. I don't know anything about any part of life, because I've never lived any of it; I've only muddled about in dreams. Does everyone muddle about in dreams?"
Lane wrote, "There is satisfaction in baking your own bread and growing your own food and canning it that cannot be found in writing a novel."
May 9, 2014
Interesting story of dynamics of mother/daughter relationship. I love Laura and I find so many things about her daughter revolting, not the least of these her politics. Writing about the Ingalls family history criss-crossing post Civil War American, picking up homesteads and baby-sitting railroad supplies while screaming anti-new deal slogans is a little like those old white guys yelling about Obamacare while also saying "hands off my medicaid".
I get that Rose Wilder Lane was the more experienced writer and that starting the series in her 60's, Laura needed help with the structure and editing of her stories. But the stories are uniquely hers and RWL's books lack the first person narrative and emotions that we love about the Little House books.
I am firmly on Team Laura in the argument about who actually should get the credit for the Little House series. Children's book editors state clearly that Rose's contribution were no more or less than any editor would do. Having said that, the letters between these two are hilarious. This was an interesting relationship for many reasons but in my opinion Rose thought her mother wasn't nearly as impressed with her lifestyle and choices as she thought she ought to be. Laura thought Rose demeaned her life choices as well.
I'm not going to give Rose Wilder Lane the feminist cred she actually deserves because I think she was a really awful person, and not a very good writer, either.
I get that Rose Wilder Lane was the more experienced writer and that starting the series in her 60's, Laura needed help with the structure and editing of her stories. But the stories are uniquely hers and RWL's books lack the first person narrative and emotions that we love about the Little House books.
I am firmly on Team Laura in the argument about who actually should get the credit for the Little House series. Children's book editors state clearly that Rose's contribution were no more or less than any editor would do. Having said that, the letters between these two are hilarious. This was an interesting relationship for many reasons but in my opinion Rose thought her mother wasn't nearly as impressed with her lifestyle and choices as she thought she ought to be. Laura thought Rose demeaned her life choices as well.
I'm not going to give Rose Wilder Lane the feminist cred she actually deserves because I think she was a really awful person, and not a very good writer, either.
July 23, 2013
This was a disappointment – due partly to my not understanding what the book was about before purchasing. I started to read this after a trip to the little house in the big woods, Laura’s birthplace near Pepin, WI, with my honorary sister, Terri. I thought the focus would be more on the relationship between mother and daughter. I also wanted more of the “real” history of Wilder herself. While one does get a glimpse of some of that, the book is a very well researched discussion of why and how Wilder and Lane wrote about what they did. While fascinating, it wasn’t what I was looking for in a Summer read (there are 50 pages of notes, bibliography and index!) Also irritating is that each of the chapters could stand alone, thus the author repeats and repeats and repeats himself – to the point it felt like filler. Finally, his discussion on how Wilder wrote about Native Americans rather lost me. I realize she was a product of her time, but the author’s bias comes through with his continued use of the word “Indians.” Only recommended for the extreme Wilder fan.
May 8, 2013
Rose Wilder Lane and Laura Ingalls Wilder are two fascinating women. That said, I enjoyed the biography aspect of this book much more than the context material and cultural analysis that filled most of its pages. I think I'll take it as a nudge towards some more straightforward biographies of both women, and do my own analysis of their lives and work.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews