Thanks, Debbie. Life as a writer is never easy. But I think anybody who wants to make a living writing (that was Rose's aim, especially since she was expected to support her parents as well) can appreciate how much harder that was in the 1930s.
I adored the Little House books as a young girl. They felt a part of me somehow. In reading your post and contemplating the possibility you offer up that Rose was actually the talent behind these treasures, I find that this would not tarnish my experience of the books in any way. Maybe because it’s still “all in the family”, but I still feel just as connected to Laura, Mary, Baby Carrie, Ma & Pa, as well as Almanzo & Rose - and their lived experiences. If it was Rose who made Laura’s accounts into works of art, I can still feel how close she was to Laura and those experiences - enabling her to write from a place of deep authenticity and care. Thank you for your research and opening up of other possibilities!
I never read the Little House books. I'm sure the television shows were weak sauce. But I did very much enjoy reading A Wilder Rose when it came out.
Thanks, Debbie. Life as a writer is never easy. But I think anybody who wants to make a living writing (that was Rose's aim, especially since she was expected to support her parents as well) can appreciate how much harder that was in the 1930s.
I adored the Little House books as a young girl. They felt a part of me somehow. In reading your post and contemplating the possibility you offer up that Rose was actually the talent behind these treasures, I find that this would not tarnish my experience of the books in any way. Maybe because it’s still “all in the family”, but I still feel just as connected to Laura, Mary, Baby Carrie, Ma & Pa, as well as Almanzo & Rose - and their lived experiences. If it was Rose who made Laura’s accounts into works of art, I can still feel how close she was to Laura and those experiences - enabling her to write from a place of deep authenticity and care. Thank you for your research and opening up of other possibilities!