I fell into the Outlander series in September, and love it. Unfortunately I’m almost done with the last of the published books. Books 4-6 of the series, which take in the back hills of colonial North Carolina, were my favorite. I was a Little House kind of little girl, and would like to read more pioneer/homesteader/wilderness type fiction, providing it’s really good. Any recommendations?
Oh! Seek out An Owl On Every Post by Sanora Babb. She writes about, when she was a child, her family moving from (yes, from) the Oklahoma Territories to the plains of eastern Colorado. It’s one of my favorite books, even though she fudged some details (such as her big sister being portrayed as her little sister). She grew up into a pretty amazing woman too, so it’s fun to “see” some of her childhood.
Two Little Savages, by Ernest Thompson Seton.
Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. Non-fiction, was the basis for the movie Heartland with Rip Torn and Conchata Farrell.
It’s free on Gutenberg, and Amazon Kindle too.
The Homesman by Glendon Swarthout. A homesman was the guy charged with escorting women back east, after life on the prairie and plains made them crazy.
I’m hoping someone will chime in with the title of a book written by a Swedish author, or maybe it was about a Swedish pioneer family. All I can recall is a child wandering off into the woods and never being seen again.
*The Yearling *by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
I love Louis L’Amour, but he might be an acquired taste. I’m not sure of particular titles, though I’d be happy to figure it out if there’s any interest.
Willa Cather is glorious, though again I know some people find her rough going. I think My Ántonia is wonderful.
I haven’t read any Louis L’Amour, but I wondered how much it was homesteading vs. how much was cowboys and Indians. I’ve always thought of him as a cowboy author.
Not that I’m super clear on how one differentiates those genres…
These is My Words is worth the read. There’s also a couple sequels; I read the first, and it was good, but not as good as the first book. I’ll probably check out the final book at some point.
The Awakening Land is a trilogy of books by Conrad Richter, one of them won the Pulitzer. It was a mini-series with Hal Holbrook and Elizabeth Montgomery several years ago, and I recommend it highly! It starts off with a family walking and walking and walking to … the Ohio Territory? Until the father stops and says, ‘here!’ And from that rises a town…
Strangers In The Forest by Carol Ryrie Brink is about homesteaders in Idaho in 1905, and a bit ‘soapy’, but very entertaining to read about a bunch of newbies plunked down in the middle of the woods.
Try Bendigo Shafter. At least, of the ones I’m familiar with, that seems to be closest to what you’re looking for, and I remember really enjoying it.
This is more wilderness, less homesteading, but I remember loving My Side of the Mountain when I was a kid.
If you don’t mind delving a bit into science fiction, Gordon R. Dickson’s Wolf and Iron delves into re-discovering some of the “pioneer skills sets” in a post-apocalyptic world (world-wide financial collapse leading to civilization collapse).
But that’s all really side-plot, not the main thrust of the book, so it may not quite suit.
Yeah, I think there’s a lot of overlap. The difference is mostly probably in tone. Most of his books were set in the west and were what you’d think of as “westerns.” He has a series dealing with a family (the Sacketts) that has a lot more of what I think of as homesteading, though I don’t know that they are still quite what you are looking for.
I think I’ll withdraw my suggestion, as it’s been too long since I’ve read most of the books and don’t want to steer you wrong. I remember reading Bendigo Shafter, but honestly I thought I would remember the plots better than I seem to. So, ignore me, please!
That’s the one I was thinking of, and thanks, because I never finished the trilogy, and now I will.
A few more:
The Pilgrim by Hugh Nissensen – this one’s about the early colonists, so not homesteading, but definitely wilderness.
The Secret River by Kate Grenville – first in a trilogy about the settlement of Australia. I didn’t read the second book but I did read the third (Sarah Thornhill) and enjoyed both.
San Miguel by T. C. Boyle – not typical homesteading but really good. Two families in different time periods “settle” an island off the California coast. It has a homesteading feel, but it’s also heavy on relationships.
I wonder if Wanderers Eastward, Wanderers West by Kathleen Winsor would qualify as homesteading. I don’t know, and it’s been years since I read it.
Oops, wrong link. This is the correct one.
Some more:
American Pioneer Writers – four novellas, including My Antonia. Amazon has used copies starting at a penny. I have this book but have only read the Cather.
In addition to The Yearling by Rawlings mentioned above, Cross Creek and The Sojourner. Again, not homesteading per se but with that feel – people going to the creek to get water, etc.
The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman – one edition has color illustrations by Thomas Hart Benton. 
My favorite book of all time is The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow. It’s set in the 1940’s in Appalachia so not early American homesteading/wilderness but it has that feel. Gertie’s home in the hills is a homestead and when she follows her husband to Detroit, she homesteads again. It’s a wonderful book.
The was a book (based on a true story, so not really “fiction”) about some Virginia settler young woman captured by Indians and dragged off to Kentucky. The story follows her escape and her making her way back home through the wilderness.
It’s called Follow the River. I liked it.
The Jump-Off Creek by Molly Gloss. Great book.