What do You think about On The Way Home: The Diary Of A Trip From South Dakota To Mansfield, Missouri, In 1894 (1976)?
When Laura Ingalls married Almanzo Wilder they finished The First Four Years. They left De Smet, South Dakota for Mansfield, Missouri with their daughter Rose. This book starts with Rose remembering the leaving of De Smet. The middle portion is journal entries from Laura as they travel the road. The end is memories from Rose again trying to complete the story. Scattered throughout are vintage photos of important landmarks on the journey. While Laura writes her portion of this book very journalistic or diary like, the Rose portions are a stream of memories that she has pieced together and reordered to fit the proper timeline. Since they are memories, some are incomplete and there are gaps that may have been interesting but are lost to time. I found this book to be fairly simple. The Rose portions were childlike but really moved things along. The Laura portions, in that journal style, were sometimes abrupt. Also, in terms of editing, both the beginning and end were large chunks of story with no breaks. The middle portion, as a travel log, was quite choppy. While fans of Little House may appreciate this, I don’t think many will love it.
—Johnny Bennett
An excellent addition to the Little House canon, On the Way Home is nevertheless likely to appeal only to the greatest Laura Ingalls Wilder fans. Short, sweet, and not always particularly interesting (because what journals are 100% exciting 100% of the time?), this is a rare glimpse into Wilder's reality as opposed to the reality-meets-storytelling she presents in her books. The only thing I didn't like was Rose Wilder Lane's "setting" before and after the journal entries themselves. Necessary to understand and give context, yes, but everything of Wilder's that I've read that has been edited or annotated by Lane has Lane inserting herself too much through those annotations. Seriously, Rose, it's not about you. Get over your mommy issues and just let the writing speak for itself.For those who read the Little House series obsessively as children and still occasionally return to them now, either to reread or simply to imagine, On the Way Home is for you.
—Cari
I thought this book was very enjoyable. I've seen many reviews in which people went into it thinking it was going to be another Little House book, but what you have to remember is that when Laura wrote this she never meant to publish it. It was simply a little diary she kept on the 650-mile journey from De Smet, South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri that she wrote in a 5-cent notebook. It lacks the polish of her most famous works, but it's still fascinating for all Laura Ingalls Wilder fans. Lurking underneath the text you can catch glimpses of the little girl on the prairie that many of us read about in our childhood and the few pictures included in the volume are just plain neat. It's nice to be able to put a face on the characters we feel as though we already know intimately. Laura herself looks poised, but her eyes have a far away, dreamy look in them (no doubt inherited by her restless Pa) and quiet Almanzo was (dare I say it?) downright sexy! Little Rose looks the picture of a sophisticated young lady in her tiny pearls and carnelian ring that she was so adamant to display. The book has a forward and afterwards of sorts and footnotes to clarify certain points by Rose Wilder Lane, which are helpful in rounding things out and explaining bits of the life that us as modern folks are not well-versed in. In short, if you're a fan of the Little House on the Prairie books, you'll probably be very interested in this short book. If you're not a fan, you'll most likely be bored by it.
—Jessica
