If you've only watched the Little House on the Prairie TV series and you think Charles Ingalls was a great father and wonderful husband, do not read this review or this book unless you're willing to see how wrong that fiction is.
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Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller.
Quick synopsis: The original Little House on the Prairie books were told from Laura's (middle daughter) POV. This book told the same story, but from Caroline's (Laura's mother, Charles's wife) POV.
Brief opinion: I have never hated such a well written book before. I kept thinking I should DNF it, I wish I had gone with that feeling. Charles Ingalls drove me insane. How could a man love his wife and kids, yet not once consider their feelings, wants, or needs? Was it because women were so little valued back then? Not considered as important as men? Or was it just Charles's personality? UGH. This was the WORST.
Plot: Set back in the 1870s, Charles, pregnant Caroline, five year old Mary, and three year old Laura had a good life. Nice home, safe area to live in, extended family all around them. But Charles has, as Caroline described it, feet full of wanderlust. He could not be happy in one place.
So he packed up his little girls, his newly pregnant wife, and gave away most of their belongings so he could go west. Caroline knew the risk to her pregnancy from spending weeks in a wagon bouncing over rough trails. The whole family knew the risks of "Indians" and such. Not to mention selling their beloved home and giving away most of their belongings. But Charles wasn't happy in one place, so off he dragged his family.
The first third of the book was them traveling in the wagon. It felt as slow to read as it must have been for them traveling. It felt like it took me weeks to read it. Small things happened, but the author seemed to describe every single day on the road.
When finally they reached Kansas, Caroline was quite dismayed that "Indian Territory" had "Indians" in it. Charles couldn't care less, he wasn't worried at all even though his wife and children were scared out of their skin. Native Americans would just enter their home whenever they liked, look over their stuff, and take what they want. One day a pair of them forced Caroline cook bread for them. Charles literally could not understand his wife being scared. In the end they hadn't hurt her, so why had she been scared?
The end of the story made me want to pull my hair out and throw my Kindle across the room. After the months long wagon trip, after a year of trying to make a home in Kansas, they turned around and went back to where they started from (somewhere in the East, I forget which state it was). The sale of their previous house fell through, so they went back there to live.
This whole story for nothing! Pointless pain, pointless travel, pointless making a home in a new, wild state. All the characters ended up exactly where they had started! Just with more loss, more pain, fewer belongings!
Writing/editing: The technical writing was fine, the editing was good. The pacing was really off though. The first third of the book could have been made into a single chapter.
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: I cannot believe how much I hate Charles Ingalls now. I should have known; I know TV shows are rarely accurate to their sources. I saved so many quotes from the book about him and other things that drove me crazy.
She would not have them shame themselves on her account.
All through the book, the women had to protect the men's egos. If the man looked upset, the woman had to do something to make sure he didn't cry and shame himself. It was always the woman's responsibility to make the man look good!
whiskers... whiskers... whiskers... whiskers... whiskers... whiskers...
Only once in the whole book was the word "beard" ever used. Otherwise it was endless "whiskers". Ugh, I hated that so much.
All these quotes will tell you all you need to know about Charles:
The day after the whole family almost died crossing a flooded river:
Caroline opened her mouth. Closed it. Had it truly come to him only now?
He never wanted to plan, he thought things would just work out on their own:
Not like Charles, who enjoyed everything the world laid out before him right to the moment it ran out.
Charles's usual blitheness.
His inability to understand that to a woman and children, "Indians" could be a threat:
It was as if he had no concept of malice, Caroline marveled.
Charles simply could not comprehend that she was at their mercy each time an Osage walked into their house.
And Charles, her husband, had the personality of a child:
The look on his face belonged to a child.
He understood. Or rather, he agreed. He did not understand.
Charles smiled back without knowing why, happy, as always, to have pleased her.
All those quotes add up to one thing. I hate the term "manchild", but I swear there is no better way to describe Charles. Did he love his family? Yes. Did he give them one speck of consideration? No. Was he able to think of anyone other than himself? I don't think so. All he cared about was what he wanted or what he would enjoy.
How often the world seemed to bend for Charles, Caroline thought.
And this drove me up a wall. When Caroline dared to feel bad or sad, she discounted her own feelings:
What she felt was nonsensical, she scolded herself.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: ⭐️ - Hated. I have no idea why this book was on my Kindle, I don't remember picking it out. It was written well, and I guess people who loved the other books might enjoy this one as well, but it just wasn't for me.