Autobiography: Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Biography: Laura Ingalls WIlder

Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Pamela Smith Hill (Editor)  Published November 20th 2014 by South Dakota State Historical Society.

This is a great book to read to get the story behind the story.  Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote this book before she began her fiction career.  She submitted it for publication, and there were edits made to it along the way.  however this book was never published.  However Wilder used the material from this book, to write her fictional works based on her childhood.  However this book is more that just the autobiography.  The editor has provided extensive research.  The first 70 prebook pages deal with the manuscripts, their submission to publishers and the different versions.

Then as you read the autobiography, more often there is annotated text than the actual biography.  This text describes the people in the book, who were they?  Often there are pictures of homes and people and places involved.  There are also maps.  Wilder had a good sense for writing even in this early work.  This shows through.  The editor also points out where certain happenings are included in the novels.  For study of movement west this is a good book to read.  It also puts the Wilder novels in context.  This is a must for Wilder fans.