Caroline : Little House, revisited / Sarah Miller, with the full approval of Little House Heritage Trust.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

USA Today Bestseller!

One of Refinery29's Best Reads of September

In this novel authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before--Caroline Ingalls, "Ma" in Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved Little House books.

In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril.

The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline's new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles' hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.

For more than eighty years, generations of readers have been enchanted by the adventures of the American frontier's most famous child, Laura Ingalls Wilder, in the Little House books. Now, that familiar story is retold in this captivating tale of family, fidelity, hardship, love, and survival that vividly reimagines our past.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Peeling back the layers of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie" series allows young adult author Miller to reveal the real Caroline Ingalls, Wilder's mother. While Ma projected a calm, strong exterior in the face of adversity in the series, research and family letters point to a woman in real life who at times questioned her ability to be a good caretaker and was haunted by the meagerness of her childhood. Miller, who has previously exposed unheard voices in her work (Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller), recounts the story of the Ingalls family's 700-mile covered wagon trek from Wisconsin to a settlement in Kansas. Here, Ma's thoughts run deep as she constantly assesses her words and actions toward daughters Laura, Mary, and Carrie, and partners effectively with her husband, Charles, and his wanderlust. This character-driven narrative balances a submissive and dutiful wife with a passionate young woman who openly and tenderly admires her husband and relishes their lovemaking. VERDICT Not to be missed by Wilder's grown-up fans or those who enjoy historical fiction about the settling of the American West in the late 1800s. [See Prepub Alert, 3/27/17.]-Wendy W. Paige, Shelby Cty. P.L., Morristown, IN © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Over the years, the Little House books have become big business, spawning endless spin-offs. Here with the approval of the Little House estate is the latest: the series revisited from the point of view not of Laura but of her mother, Caroline. The result is a gentle historical romance that begins in 1870 with Caroline, three months pregnant, leaving the familiar Big Woods of Wisconsin with her family as they head for a new life in the unknown wilds of Kansas' Indian Territory. The familiar story proceeds from there as the Wilders journey west, encounter Indians, and put down roots. Miller excels at verisimilitude, bringing her setting to vivid life, including her exposition of the extraordinary difficulties of the pioneers' lot. She is less successful with her characters, who are so unrelievedly good as to rob the story of conflict, and, hence, drama. Nevertheless, Little House fans will welcome this new perspective even as it attracts new readers to the beloved series.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2017 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

The Ingalls family loads everything they own onto a wagon and heads west from Wisconsin to the unsettled Kansas Territory, but this time, the tale is told from Caroline's perspective.A master of historical fiction, Miller (The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century, 2016, etc.) forges Caroline Ingalls into a formidable, complex pioneer woman, and adult fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series will delight in this portrayal of "Ma." Taking advantage of the opportunity to sell their Wisconsin farm, the Ingallses say goodbye to extended family. Will Charles, her beloved husband; Mary, her sweetly serious 5-year-old; and Laura, her rambunctious 3-year-old, be enough for Caroline? More worrisome, she's again pregnant. Without her kinswomen near, who will deliver her child? The journey is rife with dangers, from torrential rains and swollen rivers to menacing wolves and inscrutable Indians, not to mention claustrophobic quarters aboard the wagon. Yet the journey also brings rekindled romance and the discovery of new friends, including the beloved Mr. Edwards, who arrives gruff, lean, and thirsty for a family. And in her direst moments Caroline must swallow her fears as she faces down Indians invading her new home, catastrophic accidents, and illnesses. And she must stifle her modesty as she surrenders to the ministrations of a stranger, the only woman for miles, in childbirth. As the Ingalls family moves into the wide-open prairie, Caroline's own psychological terrain cracks opens, and Miller's novel shifts from exploring the geographical to the emotional wilderness of a woman caught on the very edge of civilization as she knows it. Caroline is compellingly mindful, particularly when she studies the effects of a tightly knit family life on her daughters and of relentless, brutal work on her husband, herself, and her far-flung neighbors in Indian territory. Beguiling, pulse-pounding historical fiction. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.