I had pretty limited expectations going into this book. I didn’t read any reviews or really hear anything about it from other readers beforehand. I originally found it at Chapters, and added it to my to-read list. A couple months later I found it in my library’s ebook collection and decided to go for it!

I loved the premise of this book. I am someone who loves to revisit my old childhood favourites. One of my favourite authors to read as a little girl was L. M. Montgomery and her Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series. My family spent many summers traveling to the maritime provinces, and we visited P.E.I. several times. I loved imagining Anne and Emily wandering the island. So, I could totally relate to McClure’s desire to reimagine Laura Ingalls Wilder and visit her haunts.

Read the rest of the review on Bookish Comforts! ( )

Well written, funny and wry; about one woman's obsession with the world of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved the books almost as much as she does, and would have loved to travel to the heartland to see Laura's World, as she terms it in the book. LHOP fans will enjoy this book immensely. ( )

I listed to this on a road trip through the west and it was a perfect choice. We even made a stop along the way to see a place spoken about in the book. I felt like it would lose my attention at times and became a bit dry at parts. Overall, I loved it and it rekindled my love for Little House. ( )

I am lucky enough to have a book-obsessed friend (another librarian, no less) who generously gifts my with books. I cackled with wild glee when I unwrapped this book. One woman's trek to visit all Laura Ingalls Wilder homesites dove-tailed nicely with my recently re-reading of the 9 books that are now considered the little house collection. I'm a sucker for non-fiction that combines a specific topic (all things Laura) with memoir (McClure's budding domestic life with future husband.) I learned a lot about other Laura obsessed groups, be they scholars or evangelical house schoolers. McClure is able to cast a critical eye at what she calls "Laura World," addressing racism and the enduring questions of authorship (Laura or her daughter Rose), and origins (how much of little house is fact vs. fiction) and the good and bad of each individual homesite.

I am roughly the same age as McClure, which sometimes helps memoirs resonate more vividly. I am also part of the cohort that can be considered "any girl born in the mid-sixties to late-seventies" who may have been learned about the little house books through the TV show. Interestingly, McClure never saw the series as a child, but she discovers its melodrama and charm, and extreme divergence from Wilder's text, as she watches it as an adult.
I highly recommend this for any Laura-obsessed fan. ( )

Adult nonfiction. One author's attempts to explore and recreate "Laura World" lead her to buy an old-fashioned butter churn, make fieldtrips to Wilder's various homesteads, etc. I don't really have any interest in "Little House" stuff (don't even think I've ever read any of the books), but picked this the fact that I read so far into this (some 170 pages, before I decided I had to get back to the rest of my neglected pile of library books) is a testament to the writer's strengths. She's funny (she knows how ridiculous her obsessions make her seem) and makes the material really readable. ( )