Laura Ingalls Wilders Little Town: Where History and Literature Meet [Paperback] Miller, John E

I understand that in my own life, I represented a whole period of American historyAs Laura Ingalls Wilder realized they would, her widely loved stories of her prairie childhood have become much more than a nostalgic blend of myth, memories, and autobiography Historically, John Miller reveals, they have much to tell us about the realities of daytoday living and attitudes in the nineteenth centuryHistory and literature are closely intertwined, Miller contends, and in this book he illustrates how Wilders novels enhance our understanding of history and how, simultaneously, a historical perspective framed Wilders fiction Wilder, he shows, interwove content and form to produce a sentimental and compelling, yet nuanced and believable, picture of family life on the agricultural frontierFocusing on Wilders novels set in and around De Smet, South Dakota, which include By the Shores of Silver Lake and Little Town on the Prairie, Miller compares her fictional world to history recorded in census figures, newspaper accounts, county records, maps, and photographs He illustrates that, although Wilder sacrificed some historical details for simplicity and drama, she preserved a general accuracy of people, places, events, and customs and depicted many facets of late nineteenthcentury life, from food and entertainment to work ethics and educationMiller also addresses the controversy over the authorship of the eight novels attributed to Wilderwas she the true author or were they ghostwritten by her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane? He contends that while Lanes editorial contribution was of great value, the voice in the book belongs to Wilder The books are filled with her interpretations of the truth as influenced by the time period in which she grew up and the culturethe institutions, gossip, informal community pressure, media, stories, songs, roles, and stereotypesthat surrounded herProviding a glimpse of prairie life through the eyes of a young girl, Wilders novels are as historically valid as their nonfiction cousins, Miller argues Hers is a lived historya sometimes romantic, sometimes observational account of the joys and frustrations of life on the prairie and a reflection of the westward movement in its prime ISBN10: 0700607137 ISBN13: 9780700607136Material Type: paperback