Recent Read #25: The Wilder Life

Wendy McClure is funny.  That basically sums up the biggest selling point of The Wilder Life, the novel of her pilgrimage to Laura Ingalls Wilder sites around the United States.  My cousin was almost a 70s child and was the one who introduced me to such things as Saved by the Bell, New Kids on the Block and The Little House on the Prairie series.  I remember sitting in her room in Kansas, with two feet of blowing snow outside and empathizing with the Ingalls while they suffered through The Long Winter.  Wendy McClure brings all of those memories back and makes them come to life as she tries to make maple candy by pouring syrup in the snow (my sister and I always wanted to do that), churns butters (it only takes her an hour and a half when it seemed like it took Ma a whole day) and stays overnight in a "covered" wagon.  And she shares her findings and how each of them bursts her Laura bubble a little more.  Wendy also explores the history of the Ingalls family and bravely delves into the uglier side of the background of Laura's life.  Throughout her journey through Laura World, she weaves in her own life events and stories.  Wendy reconciles the fictional Laura World that we all read about in the books to the real world that Laura lived in and in the end, she and I are both okay with what is truth and what is fiction.  After reading The Wilder Life, I want to buy the series and read the books all over again.  Grab this book if you can and laugh away.  With all the bad news in the financial markets lately, you'll need it.