Caroline: Little House, Revisited

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It mirrors the tale from Little House on the Prairie, but this time the story is told by Ma, not Laura. Caroline Taggart…has carved out a niche for herself in user-friendly, wittily written factual books which capture the imagination and quickly find their way to the top of the bestseller lists. I would love to know more about her youth, her courtship with Charles, and her experience as a schoolteacher — which so heavily influenced Laura. I have the utmost respect for Charles and Caroline and how they handled their moves across the prairie, helping to settle this country. In 2014, Kepnes published her debut novel You – the first hypnotic instalment in a thriller series that has become a bestselling phenomenon and revolves around charismatic serial killer Joe Goldberg.

One of the first books I read when I had learned how to read well enough to read a chapter book was Little House in the Big Woods. Miller did take a few liberties with historical fact, but outlines the few changes she made in the back of the book. This tells the story of Caroline, Ma from the Little House on the Prairie books starting at the point where Charles tells Caroline he has had an offer on the little house and land in Wisconsin. Traveling with children (they had Mary and Laura when they traveled) only added to the difficulties.

Sarah Miller excelled at developing the characters of of several of Caroline’s neighbors including Mrs. Laura is as impulsive as ever, Mary is just a little too good, Carrie is small and peaked, Ma's mottos provide steady guidance, and Pa's fiddle celebrates adventure, memories and home. As the niece of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, she was already well connected, and her courtly skills resulted in her marriage to the Hon. There were many elements in this part of their lives to produce anxiety and fear, and I can understand Caroline’s perspective, given her limited knowledge, though I cringed at the her attitudes towards the Native American population.

I am by no means a prude but I will say I was a bit uncomfortable during a VERY TAME love making scene between Ma and Pa.This is Little House on the Prairie told from the perspective of Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother, Caroline Ingalls. I liked the idea of the book, about reading about Charles, Caroline, and the children traveling to Kansas. The collision of her professional and personal life led to consequences beyond anything she could have imagined.

A master of historical fiction, Miller forges Caroline Ingalls into a formidable, complex pioneer woman, and adult fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series will delight in this portrayal of “Ma. I’ve often reflected on how difficult life must have been for Caroline and Charles, but this book doesn’t lend any joy to their experience at all. Tim's story illustrates the impact of the current crisis in mental health services and the empty rhetoric of commitments to 'learn lessons' when things go wrong.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. It’s also a memoir about my family’s unusual arrival in Britain and my childhood growing up sailing on the outer Thames. I really enjoyed that, and perhaps that’s one of the elements missing from the book - more connection with the children, who we grew up with. It is very descriptive, which may put some readers off - but I found it a great description, close to the Diana Gabaldon School of Description. I’m not sure how to soften those notes, but to have these new facts just flung at me in a brief author’s note was, frankly, upsetting.