Roger Lea MacBride (1929–1995)

Rose is definitely her own person. She makes some questionable choices, and doesn't always follow the path her parents laid out for her, but she isn't meek and obedient, either.

She pays back the money her parents lent her, often by going hungry. She wants to make her own way, fight for her own living... and fight for the rights of others, like the working class and suffragettes.

She loves the idea of being in love, but slowly realizes that Paul wants her to be a happy, pretty homemaker while show more he goes out to be a racist go-getter... and realizes that a match between them won't work.

I think she does an amazing job of coping with being 17, still in puberty, on her own in the city, dealing with (probably) being bipolar, being broke, refusing her friends' encouragements to kiss men and drink alcohol, and having a very high intelligence at a time when women were supposed to be ditzy & dependent.

I see the rants from other readers who were 'ashamed' of Rose. Apparently they just wanted yet another good girl, not a 20th century feminist. Shame on them for dissing the story that they could have read, had they read with more care, instead of missing the story they wanted to read.

Re' accuracy: Sure, some Facts are wrong. But I get the impression that the Truth of this pioneering woman is here, ready for the open-minded reader. show less

This is a "perfectly genuine fictional autobiography." It was written not by Rose Wilder Lane, but by her protégée Roger Lea MacBride. It covers the period of Rose's life beginning with her leaving Mansfield, Missouri for the west coast; through her stint as a telegraph operator; and her marriage to and divorce from Gillette Lane. Altogether it covers at least three years. It is factual that Rose did work as a telegraph operator in California, and that she married and divorced Lane. I am show more not sure anything else in the plot is true.

In particular, the figure of Paul Masters looms large - Paul is the boy who traveled south with his family in a wagon from Dakota to Missouri, along with the Wilders, when Rose and Paul were wee children. I am not sure that he grew up to be a genuine love interest of Rose at all; here they are informally engaged, indulging in passionate lovemaking several times. Paul appears constantly in her life out in California - I am not sure it is at all true, either, that he ever went West.

But what can I say - it's a gripping yarn! I hardly wanted to put it down. MacBride writes a great little story... perhaps there is enough of Rose's actual material here too, shining through enough to enamor me.

Oh, the cover has got to go, though - its illustration shows a behatted Rose and is obviously based on a famous photo of her, but in the background is a Conestoga wagon traversing an empty prairie. The Wilders were traveling in this style some 10 years or more before the book ever takes place. There are no prairies or covered wagons in the story. This isn't LITTLE HOUSE, Garth Williams - or Garth Williams wanna-be, can't tell. show less

In the seventh volume of Little House: The Rose Years, Rose Wilder spreads her wings and spends a school year with her aunt down in Crowley, Louisiana. Those months serve to expand her social consciousness as she experiences life in a bigger city, with different types of people. On one hand, I missed all of the familiar and lovable characters from the previous books. Part of me mourned as Rose drifted away from her parents' values and lifestyles. But on the other hand, I am a child of the show more 20th Century. I can relate to many of her feelings. And there's the pure fun of exploring life in Louisiana through Rose's eyes. This one's a volume to check out even if you haven't been following the series.
--J. show less

This is a close call between 3 stars and 4 stars. I was actually expecting the book to be rather dull but MacBride does a decent job trying to stay in a similar style to LI Wilder. Overall a success but I didn't find Laura or Almonzo near as entertaining. He almost captured the original. Rose was a good character.