I read somewhere that the historical events you fixate on in life are likely to be those events you were in some way connected to in a past life. Do I think I am the reincarnation of Laura Ingalls Wilder? Of course not! Though it would be kind of cool if I was. I do, however, think that if this is the way things work, then I was someone like her--or her pa ;)--in a past life. This is the only possible justification for an obsession with all things Laura Ingalls Wilder that I always knew ran pretty deep. One that I know is shared by none of my friends or family. I always felt there might be nobody I could realistically categorize as more obsessed than me...maybe just obsessed differently. Then, I read The Wilder Life!
Wendy McClure writes in a way I find really easy to read. Not easy meaning it is low level, but easy meaning I find it comfortable. Maybe I find it to be a lot like I might write if I ever got around to writing a book. I have visited 1 Little House site. The author has visited them all, or at least all of the ones that are on my list of "important ones," all of the ones I would like to visit. She approached them from an entirely different perspective though. She was on a path to try to find the location, or setting, or experience--something, ANYTHING--that would make her feel as if she had truly connected with "Laura World." Maybe even a doorway that would place her in this Laura World. This path lead her on a journey that involved not just visiting the sites where Laura and her family had lived, but also involved participating in many activities Laura likely found herself participating in. Some of these are activities many Laura fans have experienced, like making butter or maple candy. Others go far beyond that, most notably (in my opinion at least) being a visit to a homesteading weekend--one of my favorite parts of the story really! I wish I could say I found myself shaking my head and wondering what could drive her to such extremes, and I did at times, but mostly I found myself searching online for ways to try these things out myself! Her recounting of all of the adventures is both humorous and sentimental. And I felt it shared enough about the experience to really be sharing it, but not so much that it would ruin the adventure for her reader, should they be inclined to follow it to some degree.
For the author, this journey was also a very personal one, Laura Ingalls Wilder and her life serving as a conduit to some realizations and answers about herself...and a way to put some parts of her life in place. When I first realized the book was not just about an obsession with Laura, but also about the author's life and the things that might be feeding that obsession, I was disappointed. But I am not one to leave a book unfinished, even a bad one! And this book was far from that. So onward I forged, and I am glad I did. If you are a fan of the books, or a fan of any book series for that matter, I think you will love this book. But, I also think you will enjoy this book if you are a human who has ever immersed themselves in something they loved as part of the process of dealing with something they couldn't figure out how to navigate...which I am pretty sure is just about EVERYONE!
