Never forget, the "Little House" books are fiction. That way you won't feel cheated when you find out that Nellie Oleson was a composite character, or that Jack the brindle bulldog didn't die — he was given away. (Or maybe that will make you feel worse.)
Before she became famous for her children's novels about growing up in Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota in the late 1800s, Laura Ingalls Wilder tried writing a memoir, but nobody wanted it. "Pioneer Girl," a rough-edged autobiography about her childhood, was rejected by publishers in 1930.
A few years ago,Wilder biographer Pamela Smith Hill took it on, with the South Dakota Historical Society Press as publisher. The book came out last fall and spent six weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. (See sidebar.)
Hill will be in the Twin Cities this week for events at Micawber's Books and the Roseville Public Library.
Q: What is it about the Little House books that people find so captivating?
A: At the heart of the books, of course, is the fictional character of Laura herself. She is daring, smart, plucky, independent, sometimes fierce and always loyal. But she is also flawed in a very believable way. She can be quick-tempered and unforgiving. She sometimes lacks self-confidence. These qualities make her credible, appealing and timeless. That's why the Little House books cross generational, geographical and cultural boundaries. Laura's character speaks directly to the hearts of readers.
Q: What was the most interesting fact you uncovered as you edited "Pioneer Girl"?
A: In the original rough-draft version of "Pioneer Girl," Wilder recalled an episode in Walnut Grove, Minn., when she was about 11 or 12 years old. The Ingalls family was struggling to make ends meet financially, and Wilder had been hired as live-in help to look after a young, more well-to-do family in town.