This here's the Little House book that wasn't. Rose Wilder Lane is the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder and in 1935 she wrote this thinly veiled account of her home town of Mansfield, Missouri. It's not tied in with the Little House series, but knowing readers will realize that "Mother" is no one less than Laura, all grown up. The book is an interesting peek at life in a small town around the turn of the 20th Century. Ms. Wilder doesn't make it sound too inviting--the social conventions were stifling back then. It reads like an alien culture to this 20th Century boy. But the hopes and dreams of the characters are quite familiar. It's quite an enjoyable read.
--J. ( )

I didn't enjoy this book as well as I had expected to, perhaps in part due to the timing of my read. A collection of short stories about a fictional small town and, of course, the people who inhabit it, it is biting commentary on American small-town life during Rose Wilder Lane's lifetime. After reading this book, I sensed that she lived an unhappy, pessimistic life. At any rate, the book doesn't have the happy optimism of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books... maybe I wrongly expected that it would, having just read through the "Little House" series with my daughter before picking up this one. I'd like to give Lane's book a fresh read some day. --rwj