A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert

Almost every year there seems to be another book to add to a person's LIW collection.

On October 1st, "A Wilder Rose" by Susan Wittig Albert will be released in hard cover.

I don't recall a book that has focussed so specifically on the relationship between Laura and Rose since William Holtz's. "The Ghost in the Little House". It looks like it might be an interesting read.

All the information is at: http://awilderrosethenovel.com/

Another little something to look forward to...

I downloaded it from NetGalley. Hope to read it soon. Their relationship has always fascinated me.

I'm surprised the author opted to create a fictional account of their relationship instead of sticking with nonfiction.

It sounds like it will be interesting to read, but novel vs. nonfiction is an interesting choice.

Well, it takes the position that Laura was a pretty much a bumpkin and if it weren't for Rose her books wouldn't have been published at all. She dedicated it to William Holtz, the man who wrote The Ghost in the Little House, so once I saw that I figured it would be slanted more toward Rose.

I've read the note to the reader and the first chapter, then I moved on to the Epilogue. It says there are no surviving letters to indicate Rose was still trying to coach her mother while she worked on the final three books; instead Rose seemed to be working more independently on the books. It also claims readers were puzzled by The First Four Years, which was published after Laura's and Rose's deaths. The author says, "The stumbling prose and the clumsily developed story were not what they had come to expect from Laura Ingalls Wilder."  At this point, I had to pause, because I honestly don't remember that book being all that different from the rest of the series, except the optimistic tone was missing. Now, it's been a while since I read it, but all the times I did read it, I never stopped and thought it was written vastly different than the others.

I'm guessing the author opted for fiction so she would have more liberties with the story.

It's been a while, but I have read the LH books as an adult.  I did notice a bit of a change in writing with By the Shores of Silver Lake, I believe, and then it does go back to a simpler style with The First Four Years, but I certainly wouldn't call it a "clumsily developed story."  I do find it interesting that if Rose is the true author as some of these books indicate, that it is the only way Rose's work has lived on.  You can barely find one of Rose's novels.  

Have you read anything by Rose, Cheryl?  I found her work to be dark and depressing, so it seems hard for me to believe she had as much to do with the LH books as some would say.

Lori wrote:

It's been a while, but I have read the LH books as an adult.  I did notice a bit of a change in writing with By the Shores of Silver Lake, I believe, and then it does go back to a simpler style with The First Four Years, but I certainly wouldn't call it a "clumsily developed story."  I do find it interesting that if Rose is the true author as some of these books indicate, that it is the only way Rose's work has lived on.  You can barely find one of Rose's novels.  

Have you read anything by Rose, Cheryl?  I found her work to be dark and depressing, so it seems hard for me to believe she had as much to do with the LH books as some would say.

One other thing I thought of today, too, is that The First Four Years was the first draft of an unpublished book. How many authors have their original first drafts published with no editing performed? Not many, probably. It's not a fair assessment to compare them.

I've read Free Land and Let the Hurricane Roar. I despised the first and enjoyed the second. I found FL to be very dark and depressing.

bethandmanly wrote:

At this point, I had to pause, because I honestly don't remember that book being all that different from the rest of the series, except the optimistic tone was missing. Now, it's been a while since I read it, but all the times I did read it, I never stopped and thought it was written vastly different than the others.

My experience was the same. I also preferred Let the Hurricane Roar over FL.

I have read half the book. I'm dipping into it as I have a little bit of quiet time. I'll share my thoughts once I'm finished.

This week, I interviewed Susan Wittig Albert about A Wilder Rose.  I thought some of you might like to read it over on The Cottonwood Tree.

I finished the book some time ago, but haven't had the chance to share my thoughts until now. In short - it was my favourite read of the season. "Purist" Laura fans may find it confronting at times. I admit to feeling as though I had stumbled upon a diary I shouldn't be reading. It provided a perspective I hadn't considered before....how Rose felt about her parents, her sense of obligation and feelings of duty towards them and the frustration of being "tied down" so to speak. I appreciated how the book put me in Rose's shoes.