Little House Series: These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The final Little House book published during Laura Ingalls Wilder’s lifetime, “These Happy Golden Years” chronicles Laura’s life as a fifteen year old teacher in a remote one-room school house with 5 pupils, 3 of whom are her age or older. As Laura struggles to get through the term while boarding with an unhappy couple, her trips home on weekends with Almanzo Wilder are the only bright spots in her life. Still, Laura doesn’t want Almanzo getting the wrong idea about her, and she makes it clear that while she’s grateful for the rides, she doesn’t want a relationship with him. But Almanzo persists, and slowly the two form a quiet bond based on horses, songs…and love. This unromanticized view of a romantic relationship is refreshing, and as always the little details of daily frontier life sweep readers into the Ingalls family.

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