I am currently in the middle of reading the Little House series to my kids. We are all thoroughly enjoying the series (it’s my first time through it too).
I noticed, however, as I am reading them, that the LH books are labeled as “Historical Fiction.” I was under the impression that the stories were more-or-less true and had considered the series (except for Farmer Boy, of course) to be autobiographical. While I certainly don’t expect Laura to have remembered conversations verbatim from when she was six, I was still under the impression that the general stories were true. Am I mistaken about this? And if not, why is the series listed as HF?
Maybe the series is under Historical Fiction because it is LIW’s take on the situations, climate she was living in. I always thought it was Auto-Biographical in nature as well. I don’t know that is what I can give you. Anyway good reading though.
All I know is I in Rochester MN (Mall of America)- in Dec, visiting a friend/SIL and tried to find a LIW ragdoll and couldn’t find one.
I read a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder a few years back and FWIR it is mostly true. There was a brother that died young and the moves to different parts of the Midwest were not always in order–I forget a lot of the specifics. All in all the LH books are a decent retelling of her life.
I would recommend reading a bio of LIW, there are a few out there.
On a related topic the James Herriot books are listed as “autobiography” but are probably more fictitious than the little house books. Another good bio to read.
Yup, I was a bit depressed to learn that Herriott is not even his true name. It’s James Wight, IIRC. Read the biography his son wrote and was a bit disillusioned to discover that Wight combined events, exaggerated events, and even sometimes made them up entirely. Acc. to his son, he did it to protect his clients/fellow citizens from the notoriety of being one of the wacky characters in his book who cried over his sheep, was habitually late with his payments, or sent out party invitations from her dog, Tricky Woo.
LIW also changed a lot of names and locations to protect the innocent (or the guilty) so perhaps that was why they call it historical fiction.
I completely believe that the Little House books AND James Herriot’s books are biographies. I think James Herriot is still alive; last I heard, he was still a practicing vet in England. I read every one of them, over and over again, as a child. The Little Women books, by L.M. Alcott (sp?) are fiction, but they are also impossible to put down.
From what I recall, they’re mostly true. But as you said, conversations and whatnot were made up or embellished as needed. Little House in the Big Woods took place when she was what, four years old? I used to live about 10 miles from where On the Shores (Banks? I don’t remember) of Plum Creek took place, and you can still see the big depression in the field where their dugout was (it has since caved in).
I’m glad your kids like them so much. Big Woods was the first book I ever read by myself, and I think I tore through the series several times.
on a completely different tangent, have you seen the “all of a kind” family books? i loved those as a kid and have bought the whole set as an adult. i think y’all would enjoy them.
on the little house books, mostly true, details change to protect people.
Yes, the LIW books were fictionalized autobiography, I guess–she simplified, moved events around, changed people and names, etc. (I understand that no real-life Nellie can be found.) The blue-bead episode at an abandoned Indian camp happened when she was too small to remember it, and then they moved away and later returned, so she streamlined it all.
“Farmer Boy” is just as biographical, just of her husband’s life.
James Herriot’s real first name was Alf, not James. Short for Alfred, I suppose. But he apparently thought it was hopelessly lower-class. A lot of those stories are retold vet urban legends…
Also, I believe Nellie was a composite character-based on two girls-one was named Nellie, but the other character, Geraldine, I think, was the real basis for her.
There was indeed a Nellie. The difference was that her name was Nellie Owens and not Olsen.
Currently reading the stories, I too was curious. I bought some biographies to see what the real story was.
As it turns out, the series is pretty straight on, with the exception of two things:
The order in which they lived at the different places is changed. One example is that they actually lived in the big woods twice.
Another is that somethings were omitted: the loss of the son, and the many different places Pa worked. Once he worked at a hotel. That sort of thing. I suppose it’s kind of like if you were telling your kids your life story. A lot of the less pleasant topics in your life may be omitted or glossed over.
Here’s some neat facts:
I often wondered why, when they mentioned Aunts and Uncles, why they didn’t say if they were Pa or Ma’s relations. It turns out, they were both.
IIRC, two of ma’s brother’s married pa’s sisters and one of his brothers married her sister.
Almanzo’s family was much larger than farmer boy depicts.
Almanzo always called Laura Bess. He had a sister named Laura and didn’t like the name.
The blue bead incident was when pa took the girls to go see an abandoned Indian Camp. Mary and Laura found all sorts of coloured beads and took them home. Ma pursuaded them to give them to Carrie, in the form of a necklace, for a christmas gift.
In the biograpghy, it said that the main reason Pa took the girls to go see the camp was because Ma was giving birth to Grace.
As has been said, actual events and people were compressed and rearranged to improve the narrative. Two particular examples of characters that were actually compilations of real people are Nellie and Mr. Edwards. There were actually several nasty little girls who plagued Laura and they were smooshed together into the classic nasty little girl. Likewise, “Mr. Edwards” was several nice men who helped the Ingalls over the years. If I were doing the labeling, I would call the books fictionalized autobiography rather than historical fiction.
You want to see fiction? View the hideous TV series. But only if you have a strong stomach.
Hmmm, well, I can see either label, historical ficiton or biography, working for the series. In this case, it’s a pretty fine hair to split. The stories follow her life very closely, but LIW deliberately shifted the order of events and created composite characters to enhance the story-telling, rather than the fact-relating aspects of her writing. The one thing that cracks me up is that the family zig-zagged all over the place, at one point returning almost all the way to the Big Woods, as opposed to the almost constant westward movement that’s described in the books.
I think a lot of her choices boil down to her purpose – her primary goal seems to be to illustrate the way of life that was experienced on the frontier. She had said that she had started to write the books because she realized that unique time in American history was over, and that it was important for children to understand the hardships and dedication of the settlers. The telling of her own personal family story is secondary. Obviously, the books accomplish both things.
Another related book – Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink, which is historical fiction/biography of the author’s grandmother’s girlhood. This family is living in a situation fairly similar to the Ingalls in terms of time and place, but on a slightly more established farm.
Not about the frontier, but the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace are another neat example of fictionalized biography. The adventures of Betsy and Tacy are taken straight from the diaries of the author, and are set in the early years of the 20th century in a small Midwestern town.
The more recent editions of the books include a genealogy, which is quite interesting. It’s fun to know that the Rag Doll Charlotte is named after Laura’s grandmother.
Yes, but the first time that Charles and Caroline lived in the Big Woods near Pepin was before Laura was born, so you can’t fault her for not telling the story of that sojourn.
**
Yes, there were certain portions of her life that she skipped over. But that doesn’t quite make the rest fiction.
