A review by monsterfemme
The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

2.0

this one is by far the most poorly written & constructed of the nine books (unsurprising, since it was published very posthumously from a pretty rough draft). this one also illustrates repeatedly and starkly how fucked up ridiculous the colonial settler way of life is/was to impose on the prairies: like yes you stupid motherfuckers, your crops keep failing & you keep dying in blizzards and cyclones because the way this land was meant to be lived on & tended was migratory. all the books illustrate this point, but because this one has so much less romanticization of holidays and learning, and so much more repetitive descriptions of failing at farming, it really hits the point home.

also the moments when laura has her babies are seriously disturbing: devoid of embodiment and emotion, even when the second baby dies. when rose is born, laura has been fully drugged unconscious with no warning, but it's presented in this matter-of-fact way that is so upsetting.