Laura Ingalls Wilder's autobiography boasts big sales
Interest in author Laura Ingalls Wilder and her upbringing on America鈥檚 frontier have made her autobiography 鈥淧ioneer Girl鈥� a bestseller.聽
鈥淧ioneer鈥� was published last year. In the book, the author details her upbringing and her family鈥檚 journey traveling from states that included Kansas, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Many of Wilder鈥檚 experiences became the basis for her famous 鈥淟ittle House鈥� book series.
鈥淧ioneer鈥� is still selling very well and is currently ranked at number eight on 鈥檚 bestseller list, behind such big-name sellers like Harper Lee鈥檚 鈥淕o Set a Watchman,鈥� Anthony Doerr鈥檚 鈥淎ll the Light We Cannot See,鈥� and Paula Hawkins鈥� 鈥淭he Girl on the Train.鈥� Meanwhile, it鈥檚 ranked at number seven on the IndieBound hardcover nonfiction list for the week of Feb. 5.
The book was released by the South Dakota State Historical Society late last year and, according to , the book is already in its third printing as of the end of January. Another of the publisher's big sellers before 鈥淧ioneer鈥� was a Laura Ingalls Wilder biography titled 鈥淟aura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer鈥檚 Life,鈥� but 鈥淸the biography鈥檚 sales of] twelve thousand copies in eight years didn鈥檛 really prepare us for the kind of interest that [Wilder's] name on a book would bring,鈥� SDHSP director Nancy Tystad Koupal told Publishers Weekly.
Monitor writer Lane Brown wrote of the book in a review, 鈥淚 found it fascinating to read about the multiple steps that transferred Wilder鈥檚 stories鈥�. At times the level of detail 鈥� can get in the way of the narrative flow鈥�. But writers reading 鈥楶ioneer Girl鈥� will be intrigued by the process through which the original manuscript was worked into a bestselling book series. Readers who remember the Little House series will immediately pick up on those passages that made it into the final books, and recognize how many of Wilder鈥檚 accounts were re-ordered to optimize her narrative for young audiences.鈥�
