Take a photo of a barcode or cover
quietkristina 's review for:
These Happy Golden Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Cross-posted from my blog: http://quietandbusy.blogspot.com
These Happy Golden Years picks up directly after Little Town on the Prairie, with Laura getting her teaching certificate and heading off to her first teaching job. Her assignment is in a town twelve miles away, meaning that she will have to live in there for the duration of her term, which is two months long. She ends up disliking the school, but she is saved from abject misery by Almanzo Wilder, who arrives with his horses to ferry Laura home each weekend. It is here that their relationship, which had it roots in the previous book, really begins to flourish.
After that teaching assignment ends, Laura returns home. Her rides with Almanzo, however, continue and they come to know each other quite well. As the year moves forward, she goes through a few different teaching posts and other work opportunities, which allow her to put away enough money to keep her sister Mary in college, and even pay for her to come visit some summers. As is usual in a Little House book, various meals, customs, holidays, and social events take place and are lovingly described. By the end of the novel, Laura and Almanzo's friendship has deepened into love and they get ready to build a life together.
This was an extremely sweet novel, and I did enjoy it even though not much happens in it. The main focus of the story was the romance between Laura and Almanzo, and Laura's transition to the working world. Laura's courtship is incredibly G-rated, and mostly consists of going on long buggy rides during which no one says very much. Even so, it was adorable and I was glad to see them settle down together. Laura's growing independence was interesting to see as well. As a teacher, she earns quite a bit of money in this book--more than her Pa is ever able to scrape together at one time. She never ends up loving teaching, but she does a competent job with it and sticks with it long enough to help support her family. She really comes into her own in this story, and having stuck with her throughout the books since she was five, it was pretty satisfying to see.
Even better, there were no minstrel shows or overtly racist sentiments in this novel, so there wasn't much to uncomfortably overlook while reading. At one point, Laura says she does not support women's rights and would never want the right to vote, but hey, that's not an unusual opinion for the time period. At least she insisted that the word "obey" be taken out of her marriage vows.
So, I did like this novel. At this point however, I have Little House fatigue. I am ready for this series to be over. Luckily, I'm onto the last book now, and it's a short one.
These Happy Golden Years picks up directly after Little Town on the Prairie, with Laura getting her teaching certificate and heading off to her first teaching job. Her assignment is in a town twelve miles away, meaning that she will have to live in there for the duration of her term, which is two months long. She ends up disliking the school, but she is saved from abject misery by Almanzo Wilder, who arrives with his horses to ferry Laura home each weekend. It is here that their relationship, which had it roots in the previous book, really begins to flourish.
After that teaching assignment ends, Laura returns home. Her rides with Almanzo, however, continue and they come to know each other quite well. As the year moves forward, she goes through a few different teaching posts and other work opportunities, which allow her to put away enough money to keep her sister Mary in college, and even pay for her to come visit some summers. As is usual in a Little House book, various meals, customs, holidays, and social events take place and are lovingly described. By the end of the novel, Laura and Almanzo's friendship has deepened into love and they get ready to build a life together.
This was an extremely sweet novel, and I did enjoy it even though not much happens in it. The main focus of the story was the romance between Laura and Almanzo, and Laura's transition to the working world. Laura's courtship is incredibly G-rated, and mostly consists of going on long buggy rides during which no one says very much. Even so, it was adorable and I was glad to see them settle down together. Laura's growing independence was interesting to see as well. As a teacher, she earns quite a bit of money in this book--more than her Pa is ever able to scrape together at one time. She never ends up loving teaching, but she does a competent job with it and sticks with it long enough to help support her family. She really comes into her own in this story, and having stuck with her throughout the books since she was five, it was pretty satisfying to see.
Even better, there were no minstrel shows or overtly racist sentiments in this novel, so there wasn't much to uncomfortably overlook while reading. At one point, Laura says she does not support women's rights and would never want the right to vote, but hey, that's not an unusual opinion for the time period. At least she insisted that the word "obey" be taken out of her marriage vows.
So, I did like this novel. At this point however, I have Little House fatigue. I am ready for this series to be over. Luckily, I'm onto the last book now, and it's a short one.