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trueblue's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
allisonwebster's review against another edition
3.0
It's based on a great idea--recovering Rose, the unlikable daughter, writer, and editor who saw her Mother's fame eclipse hers.
ruthiella's review against another edition
3.0
“Where does it stop? Does it ever? I want to believe it all leads to something grander than the imagination, grander than the end-of stop of the Pacific. Or is that it; You get to the place where you land; you are tired now; you settle.”
I bought this book on a total whim, knowing nothing about it. I was ever so pleasantly surprised to find it about a recent PhD graduate whose obsession with Laura Ingalls Wilder and her own Vietnamese family history intersect in an interesting way. In fact, I read Little House in the Big Woods (for the first time as an adult) because I was so inspired by this title.
Nguyen makes interesting parallels between the relationship of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane and the main character’s difficult connection to her own immigrant mother as well as between the life of a white settler moving ever westward in the 19th century in search of a better life and that of an immigrant landing in the U.S. in the 20th century. Sometimes the reach is a little strained, but over all I really enjoyed the story and the characters.
I bought this book on a total whim, knowing nothing about it. I was ever so pleasantly surprised to find it about a recent PhD graduate whose obsession with Laura Ingalls Wilder and her own Vietnamese family history intersect in an interesting way. In fact, I read Little House in the Big Woods (for the first time as an adult) because I was so inspired by this title.
Nguyen makes interesting parallels between the relationship of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane and the main character’s difficult connection to her own immigrant mother as well as between the life of a white settler moving ever westward in the 19th century in search of a better life and that of an immigrant landing in the U.S. in the 20th century. Sometimes the reach is a little strained, but over all I really enjoyed the story and the characters.
amdame1's review against another edition
3.0
A Vietnamese-American young woman is quite obsessed with "Little House on the Prairie" and goes to many lengths to pursue the history of a certain piece of jewelry that she thinks is linked to Laura Ingalls Wiler and Rose Wilder Lane.
A quick, interesting read, especially for those like me who grew up reading and watching this series.
A quick, interesting read, especially for those like me who grew up reading and watching this series.
jlrmac's review against another edition
4.0
Was surprised to learn th
is personal narrative was fiction! Very interesting to fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. Story revolves around Vietnamese Americans of three generations.
is personal narrative was fiction! Very interesting to fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. Story revolves around Vietnamese Americans of three generations.
baileymichelle's review
4.0
Somewhere between a 4 and a 5 for me. The narrative was incredible, and read more realistically than some memoirs I've read. I kept having to remind myself that it was a novel. But at the same time, the threads pulled at each other a little too much sometimes and felt a little thin. That said, I still loved this book, and what it says about the American Dream and who is an American and what that actually means was really profound, all through the lens of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family.
sdbecque's review against another edition
4.0
I checked this out from the library to read for the Read Harder challenge, and I'm really glad I did. I read through it really quickly. It was heavy on the Little House on the Prairie information and explanations. But, not surprisingly I was really drawn to the elements of midwestern identity, family, and academic life.
librariana's review
3.0
There were elements of this I truly enjoyed: the speculative history, the possible links/connections to a literary figure, the research adventure to solve the mystery... and the parallel mother-daughter relationships as well as the immigrant experience and cultural expectation, some of which I could relate to... but the storytelling itself still didn't feel complete or fully fleshed out. Still, I'm curious to read other works by this author and see what those stories may have to offer.
rebekahcraft's review
1.0
I picked up this book because I am a fan of Nguyen's memoir, Stealing Buddha's Dinner, and grew up obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder. This book was disappointing on so many levels. The characters were one dimensional and did not go through any transformation or learn from their mistakes. I kept listening and waiting for something to happen or for the plot to improve and was sorely disappointed. To top it off, the book ended with my least favorite wrap-up move of all time: a flash forward when everything is tied up into one neat little package.
8little_paws's review
4.0
This book is really about a young woman who's working to accept her dysfunctional family for what they are and happens to have a fictional story about Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder running parallel through it. I liked this book a lot and find the premise really interesting--that immigrants and their children are much like the pioneers of the 1800s. I particularly liked the discussions and commentary in the book about being Asian in America. All said I found this pretty interesting and I liked the main character a lot. I know some here said they didn't feel like Lee grew a lot throughout the book, but I am not sure I agree with that. I'd recommend this book to others.