"Millions of devoted readers believe they know Laura Ingalls -- the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains and went on to write the famous autobiographical books. But the full saga of her life has never been told. Now Caroline Fraser, editor of the Library of America's Little House series, masterfully fills in the gaps. For all the hardships Wilder's books describe, her life was harder and grittier. With fresh...

Articles and fictional works by Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, some of which were published in magazines of an earlier era, create a chronological account of their lives.