Book Review: Caroline: Little House, Revisited

As a child, one of my favorite book series was the Little House series. I devoured each book as Laura traveled from the Big Woods in Wisconsin to the Kansas Prairie, to Plum Creek, and then to the Dakota Prairie. So, when my own daughters got the series for Christmas in 2021, I was so excited to plunge into the books with them.

As we slowly got started, my oldest daughter slowly became more and more engaged with the story, and I started to see her fall in love with the series and the characters. I relished every moment of reading these books with her. Just as I finished, a friend sent me the link to a book I had never heard of–and that is where this book review begins.

Sarah Miller, author of Caroline: Little House, Revisited, also fell in love with the Little House series as a child. As an adult, she poured over Laura Ingalls Wilder’s journals and other manuscripts, other biographers' research, diaries of other women who traveled west by wagon, and even criticisms of the Little House books. She then traveled to the places Wilder wrote about to really get her bearings before writing about the woman in the book so few really know about: Ma–Caroline Ingalls.

She chose to create this work of fiction to tell Caroline’s story of a woman leaving home and family to a new frontier with her own children in tow. This story starts in the Big Woods, just like the original series. But, Miller explains in an author’s note, there are some distinct differences from Laura’s retelling. Two specific differences are that Carrie was not on Ma’s lap when they left the Big Woods, but that Caroline was actually pregnant with her. She shares that census records show that Carrie was actually born on the Kansas prairie. The second is that the Ingalls family did not leave the prairie because of politicians, but likely because the fellow they sold their Wisconsin home to defaulted on the loan, and without that money, they could not stay on their claim.

This novel has many of the same stories that Laura tells so if you’ve read the Little House series, you tend to know what is coming–trading their horses for Pet and Patty, losing Jack in the river crossing, Mr. Scott nearly dying while digging the well, and Mr. Edwards meeting Santa Claus and bringing Christmas to the Ingalls family. But each of these stories are told through Caroline’s eyes, with her own fears, thanksgivings, and loaded emotions clearly shown.

What I really appreciated about this story was the innermost thoughts that Miller gave Caroline throughout the story. What I thought was so profound was that so many of the thoughts originated because she was pregnant.

At that time, it was not proper for pregnant women to be seen by men–pregnancy was not talked about or celebrated like it is today. So when Caroline is invited in the general store in Independence, she sits back and must say “no thank you,” when she really wanted to relish in the various goods the store was sure to have.

When she met Mr. Edwards, she appreciated that, while he clearly “[took] her all in at once,” as Miller writes, he “somehow [acknowledged] the evidence of her pregnancy without lingering on it or shying from it.”

And when Charles told her that Mr. Scott’s wife would come when the time came, she appreciated the offer, but selfishly longed for her own family to do what they had done when Mary and Laura were each born.

Other thoughts Miller gave Caroline were thoughts every wife has about her husband–what he must think when he gives that look, remembering first dates and early marriage, worrying about his safety in dangerous situations, and the question of how to comfort him when she clearly sees that he feels he failed her in some way.

This book is fiction, and much of today's fiction tends to have scenes I could do without. This book is no different, with the exception that this story is about a woman and her husband, not two people dating. Miller tackled this with tact. Much of the flirting between Caroline and Charles is appropriate–they are married after all, not dead. Towards the end of the book, she does explicitly write in a scene, but again, it was not overly lewd, and they are married, so I’ll give it a pass.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. It is not something I would recommend you read with your children–this is truly an adult fiction book. The story line reminds you of well-loved characters from your own childhood, but with adult thoughts and content not meant for children.

If you were a lover of the Little House books, give this one a try.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.