Generations of American children have grown up on Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved Little House books, reading about the good-hearted, tightly knit Ingalls family and the joys and dangers they encountered on the American frontier. But the realities of Wilder's life—like the realities of American history—were much more complex. This sweeping biography offers a comprehensive (and at times grim) portrait of the world that Wilder idealized in her novels, from Caroline and Charles's marriage to Laura's unsettled childhood to the persistent hardship and financial woes that were alleviated only when she began writing romanticized accounts of pioneer life. Stripping away the whitewash of nostalgia and pop culture (Michael Landon applied a lot of artistic license), Prairie Fires reveals the real woman—with all her fortitude and contradictions—behind the American icon.