Generations of children have fallen in love with the pioneer saga of the
Ingalls family, of Pa and Ma, Laura and her sisters, and their loyal
dog, Jack. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books have taught
millions of Americans about frontier life, giving inspiration to many
and in the process becoming icons of our national identity. Yet few
realize that this cherished best-selling series wandered far from the
actual history of the Ingalls family and from what Laura herself
understood to be central truths about pioneer life.
In this groundbreaking narrative of literary detection, Christine
Woodside reveals for the first time the full extent of the collaboration
between Laura and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Rose hated farming and
fled the family homestead as an adolescent, eventually becoming a
nationally prominent magazine writer, biographer of Herbert Hoover, and
successful novelist, who shared the political values of Ayn Rand and
became mentor to Roger Lea MacBride, the second Libertarian presidential
candidate. Drawing on original manuscripts and letters, Woodside shows
how Rose reshaped her mother's story into a series of heroic tales that
rebutted the policies of the New Deal. Their secret collaboration would
lead in time to their estrangement. A fascinating look at the
relationship between two strong-willed women, Libertarians on the
Prairie is also the deconstruction of an American myth.
Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports
Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of
biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies
on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela,
and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as
Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also
published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming
adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every
title we publish becomes a New York Times best seller or a national
best seller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes
overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
