Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller
By Taylor Jasmine | On June 12, 2018 | Updated December 27, 2023 | Comments (0)
Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller is a captivating novel that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before — Caroline Ingalls, “Ma” in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books.
For over 80 years, the Little House stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder have captivated generations of audiences. Caroline: Little House, Revisited is a fresh look at the classic Little House on the Prairie, told through the eyes of Caroline “Ma” Ingalls.
In this novel, authorized by Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in this dazzling work of adult historical fiction.
The Little House books’ beloved “Ma”
Caroline “Ma” Ingalls has forever been a mainstay in the world of Little House, but readers have yet to experience her story. In Caroline: Little House, Revisited, Sarah Miller’s research into family letters and Wilder’s handwritten drafts and manuscripts, along with an in-depth look into Pioneer Girl and the Little House canon, shapes a magnificent portrait of the matriarch so many of us have grown to love.
During the frigid winter of 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the Big Woods of Wisconsin for a new life in Kansas’s Indian Territory.
The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort. In adapting to this strange new place, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses to forge a home, raise children, and survive.
Deprived of the support network they depended on in Wisconsin, work is daunting and the days are lonesome, yet Caroline’s life is still filled with tender joys, especially in her husband and children. Caroline’s experiences provide an entirely new point of view for readers who grew up with Laura’s perspective on the adventure of pioneering.
Not only will Caroline: Little House Revisited appeal to grown up Little House enthusiasts, but all readers of compelling historical fiction will be entranced by Miller’s conceptualization of the Ingalls family.
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Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller on Amazon*
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Caroline: Little House Revisited — how it begins
Caroline’s wrist turned and flicked as the steel tongue of her crochet hook dipped in and out, mirroring the movement of the fiddle’s bow. With each note, the white thread licked a warm line across her finger. Her pattern had just begun to repeat, chorus-like, as the tune ended.
She smoothed the frilled cluster of scallops against her cuff and smiled. So long as she could keep ahead of the mending, a pair of lace wrists would freshen her second-best wool before snowmelt. There would be no time for a collar — once the trees began to bud, she must turn her hans to the tedious seams of a new set of diapers, bonnets, and gowns.
Charles rested the fiddle on his knee and primed himself with a breath.
“What is it, Charles?” Caroline asked, plucking a slouching festoon of thread into place.
“I’ve had an offer for this place,” he said.
Carolines hook stilled. “An offer?”
“Gustafson’s agreed to pay one thousand twelve dollars and fifty cents for our half of this quarter section.”
The sum swept her mind clean as a gust of wind. “My goodness,” she said. One thousand twelve dollars And the delightful absurdity of fifty cents besides, like a a sprinkling of sugar. They could use it to buy a week’s worth of satin hair ribbons for Mary and Laura …
(Excerpt from Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller. Copyright © 2018 by Sarah Miller. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)
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7 Biographies of Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Reviews of Caroline: Little House, Revisited
“Beguiling, pulse-pounding historical fiction.”—Kirkus
“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.”—Library Journal
“A stunning novel…Miller’s research is impeccable and her writing exquisite.”
—Historical Novel Society
“Full of lyrical descriptions of the wild beauty of the Kansas countryside, Caroline is a well-researched and thoughtful look at the inner life of one of America’s most famous frontier women.” —BookPage
About Sarah Miller, author of Caroline
Sarah Miller began writing her first novel at the age of ten, and has spent the last two decades working in libraries and bookstores.
She is the author of two previous historical novels, Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller, and The Lost Crown. Her non-fiction debut, The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century, was hailed by the New York Times as “a historical version of Law & Order.” Sarah lives in Michigan.
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Learn more about Laura Ingalls Wilder
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