Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

Pioneer Girl was Laura Ingalls Wilder's original autobiographical manuscript that her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, edited and later tried to spin off as a juvenile novel. It also became the basis for the beloved Little House series and the inspiration behind Lane's own fictional successes in Let the Hurricane Roar and Free Land. Wilder biographer Pamela Smith Hill has added commentary, research and analysis, bringing together pieces of Ingalls family history and shedding light on the collaborative role that Lane played in the development of her mother's literary craft and career as a children's author.

At the beginning of Pioneer Girl, Wilder's style seems influenced by her stint as columnist for the Missouri Ruralist; a seven-paragraph narrative conveys immediacy and dramatic tension. Through Lane's mentoring, Wilder gained confidence in her craft and began to imbue her characters with rich and deeply developed storylines--hallmarks that would characterize her fictional works. As a result, Pioneer Girl resounds with the nostalgic longing of an older adult confronting her own mortality, wistfully remembering a simpler time.

Hill stays true to Wilder's narrative, providing historical context where appropriate and adding footnotes to reconcile plot differences between the original manuscript and the subsequent series. This lightly edited version presents a portrait of an emerging artist, one whose storytelling gifts allowed her figuratively to wrap readers in Pa Ingalls's arms and take them on an adventure across the Midwestern plains. --Nancy Powell, freelance writer and technical consultant