Old Home Town by Rose Wilder Lane

Old Home Town Reviews

• 
  Jane

  It was very well written, which is what I have come to expect from this author. It definitely gave me a feeling for how people lived in that era. I wish I could give it 3.5 stars, though. Perhaps because of the format, I felt there was a certain sameness to each of the stories. I think there is a possibility that Let The Hurricane Roar was her masterpiece.
• 
  Dana Stabenow

  Lane really, really didn't like the small town America in which she was raised, and in particular she didn't like the lifestyle it forced upon the women living it.
  
  The first chapter is a beautifully written indictment of the nameless Midwestern town in which the story is set. Parochial, insular, stuffy, middle-brow, Wilder's old home town is obsessed with what is proper and especially what isn't.
  
  The rest of the chapters are stories told by a young girl named Ernestine about other women who live there, and most of them are pretty easily identifiable as wish fulfillment on the part of the author. The old maid escaping seduction by town ne'er-do-well by her own pluck and the timely appearance of a new suitor. The hired girl forced by gossip to marry the husband when the wife dies, which ends about as well as you might expect. A wife who leaves her husband and goes on to become a couturier. The selfish old woman who lies about her daughter being fast to her daughter's suitor so he'll jilt her and she'll have someone at home to take care of her. Ernestine's "fast friend" Elsie falls for a traveling man with disastrous results. The town beauty elopes with a hayseed, and a mother sells her beautiful daughter to the highest bidder, with homicidal results.
  
  In the last chapter, Ernestine has finally had enough (and so have we) and against the wishes of her parents leaves home for school in NYC. You don't so much as cheer as think, "What took you so long?"
  
  Lane writes
  
  ...there were two clear ways to flaunt one's loss of modesty and virtue; one was to wear red, the other was to be seen needlessly gadding around uptown.
  
  Makes me want to put on my reddest outfit and prance right up town. I'm certain that was exactly how she meant me to feel.
  
  
• 
  Mary Jo

  This was a reread and I have to say it was just as enjoyable the second time around. I have learned a little about Rose Wilder Lane and I can say that I wasn't surprised by her acerbic style of writing. She is every bit as good a writer as her mother, but my, what a different attitude toward small town life!!!
• 
  Ellen

  A fun historical read, but even more so if you are a fan of the Little House books by Rose's mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Rose wrote this book before her mother wrote (and Rose heavily edited) the Little House books, so although the book is written about the turn of the century and the styles are more "Gibson Girl" the description of daily life is reminiscent of the Little House books. It also reminds me of the era depicted in "The Music Man" -- we even have the traveling salesman offering sen-sen to young girls (naughty!)
  
  The author says she wrote the book to give modern readers at the time (the 1930s) an idea of what life was like "before the war." (World War I) She manages to convey a sense of irreverence and rebellion in the main character Ernestine, and her views on the absurdity of some of the old restrictions are clear. The girls and women manage to rebel as best they can within the strict conventions of society, and in some cases we get a glimpse of their lives "after the war" when they are able to travel and have professions.
  
  As a period piece it is excellent, and if you're interested (as I am) in references to styles and fabrics (dimity, calico, nun's veiling)-- or the quaint reference to "machine lace" curtains, there is a treasure trove of information and nostalgia. And although the heroine, Ernestine, is sheltered by her parents and the strict customs of the town, the stories don't shy away from drama, death, and even cruelty at times.
  
  Having read "Ghost in the Little House" (the story of Rose Wilder Lane's life) I know that she herself left home at a young age and lived a very modern life for a woman of her era. It's interesting to know that later in her life (much later than the writing of this book) she wrote that the world had stopped making sense to her around 1914 (WWI). So although she rebelled, the world made sense when she knew what to rebel against -- small town life as depicted in this book.
• 
  Ann Moody

  Really enjoyed this one, as a good read in and of itself, as well as a good look into Rose's life and impressions.
  
  This is chick-lit and a period piece, really a gift from another time that is still relatable. It's fascinating to see what was and was not considered proper behavior for a young lady around the turn of the century in rural middle America.
  
  But as we learn these cultural nuances, we also observe the many ways people manipulate their social situations in the struggle to get what they want out of life. In this way, human nature doesn't change much over time and through the generations. We outwardly adapt to conform, but search for ways to maximize our options.
  
  Lots of fun, nothing much like the Little House books but a must read for their fans anyway to see our Wilder ladies' thinly veiled lives from another angle. So grateful the publisher dusted off this long out-of-print treasure. Have read and re-read at least ten times and not done yet.
  
  
• 
  The other John

  This here's the Little House book that wasn't. Rose Wilder Lane is the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder and in 1935 she wrote this thinly veiled account of her home town of Mansfield, Missouri. It's not tied in with the Little House series, but knowing readers will realize that "Mother" is no one less than Laura, all grown up. The book is an interesting peek at life in a small town around the turn of the 20th Century. Ms. Wilder doesn't make it sound too inviting--the social conventions were stifling back then. It reads like an alien culture to this 20th Century boy. But the hopes and dreams of the characters are quite familiar. It's quite an enjoyable read.
• 
  Wendy

  I thoroughly enjoyed this book - a collection of short stories about the residents of a small town at the turn of the century. Her book focuses mainly on women, specifically their lack of rights, restrictions placed on women, and their place in society if they did not marry. Her bias against small towns and marriage shows throughout the book. However, her attention to detail gives a picturesque view of small town living. Characters are well developed - including the men. It is worth reading.
• 
  Beth Paul

  I'm learning now in Prairie Fires that Old Home Town is only thinly disguised Mansfield, Mo & the townsfolk there didn't think too highly of it. I would have liked it more if I could read the chapters / short stories in one sitting, but they bord me too much to slog through.
• 
  Stacey

  This was the best of the three novels I have read by Rose. Free Land and Young Pioneers were ok. Her writing style is very different from that of the Little House books no matter how involved Rose may have been.
• 
  Valerie

  This was pretty good! This book is actually made up of a collection of short stories. Each story is a lone chapter in the book. Sometimes it is a bit confusing, hard to keep straight who is who and what time period it is as the chapters may overlap each other rather than following one another.
  
  The stories are told in first-person by our main character, Ernestine. She’s growing up in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s in small town Missouri. Her life is pretty much the transition between “the old ways” and the beginnings of American feminism. She’s a young girl fighting to get out of the town, trying to avoid that same-old-same-old life all the other women desire. It’s very interesting, though, to read about the customs and the typical gossip that existed at this time, pre-WWI. The time of my great-great- and great-great-great-grandparents.
  
  I think my favorite chapters of the book were all, pretty much, but the first and the last, haha. The first almost lost me and I kept thinking, oh man, I’m not going to be able to finish this book, but once I got past that, it was great. The end of the last seemed a little long, too, but maybe I was just anxious to finish it and return my borrowed book.
  
  But overall, it’s very entertaining and like a light into the Midwest American past. Very enjoyable!
  
  ———- spoiler ———-
  
  There is one thing, though, that I totally don’t understand. In a nutshell, Mr. Gifford comes down with Typhoid fever and it looks pretty bleak for him but after something like a week, his fever breaks and he starts to get better. But then, his young wife Lois is feeding him ears of corn. Ernestine exclaims that she knows better, that the doctor said that would kill him, but Lois says she was told nothing of the kind, that Mr. Gifford was hungry and asked for sweet corn. Two and a half days later, he does die. I don’t get this! I’m reading about Typhoid fever right now and all I can figure is… is it because of the intestinal hemorrhage? That would be my guess but I’m no doctor, so if anyone else has an idea, let me know!
• 
  Nancy

  Rose's dislike of growing up in a small town with gossiping women pervades this book. The final story looks like a reflection of herself as a " bachelor girl" who loves to travel and finds herself in Albania.
  
• 
  Rhonda

  Funny how small town life hasn't changed much in a 100 years!
• 
  Jane

  Endearing portrait of small town American life pre-WWI.