My Life as Laura: How I Searched for Laura Ingalls Wilder and Found Myself [Paperback]

Kelly Kathleen Ferguson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2011

Kelly Kathleen Ferguson needed to know-was connecting with her lifelong heroine the key to knowing herself? She decided to find out. Kelly donned a prairie dress and retraced the pioneer journey of Laura Ingalls Wilder. From Wisconsin to Minnesota, South Dakota to Missouri, she explored Laura's past and her own. Part travelogue, part memoir and part social commentary, My Life as Laura shows how a relationship with a pioneer girl who lived in little houses long ago can give a sense of purpose for today. Judy Blunt, author of the national best seller Breaking Clean, says My Life as Laura is "Hilarious, perceptive and true, a homespun story as genuine as the ones that inspired it." -

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Press 53 (October 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935708449
• ISBN-13: 978-1935708445
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.4 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #849,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kelly Kathleen Ferguson's work has appeared in mental_floss magazine, Poets & Writers, the Gettysburg Review, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and Brevity, among other publications. She has an MFA from the University of Montana, and working on a PhD in creative nonfiction at Ohio University. Kelly is a Libra, Cancer rising, Aquarian moon. She is Irish/French/German, lapsed Roman Catholic, and right-brained. Kelly once received a minority scholarship for a machinist certification program at Durham Technical Community College. When she was four, she ate a mothball and had to have her stomach pumped, or she would have died.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I Couldn't even put this book down to take a bath. November 7, 2011

By Melissa A. Bartell

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

My Life as Laura came onto my radar in that random way that books sometimes do - I didn't see it in a store, or know anyone who was reading it. I was reading ANOTHER fan-of-Laura-goes-on-a-personal-quest book (hey, now that there are at least two is it officially a trope?) which I quite enjoyed, and that led to a website, which led to a blog, which led to THIS book...which I promptly ordered. I didn't even complain (much) that it wasn't available on kindle, thus requiring me to wait for it to be shipped.

It was worth the wait.

Ferguson's voice is strong and candid with moments of poignant self-awareness, but never does she take herself too seriously. (Not that you CAN take yourself too seriously when you're gallivanting around the American mid-west in a turquoise and orange prairie dress, but still...). Her observations of the various LIW-related sites were spot on, her experiences often reminiscent of some of my own (I lived in SoDak for years after marrying a farmer boy from a town just half an hour from DeSmet, though in our relationship, when I call him "Farm Boy" it's not with affection.) I know what it's like to see the road sign for the first time, have and experienced the history of the Little House books come crashing into modern life.

My Life as Laura doesn't tell us much that deep fans of Laura didn't already know, but for casual fans, it's a glimpse at life in a beloved world that is at once very near and very far from our own, and for the rest of us, it's an assurance that someone else out there understands the desire to put on a sunbonnet and race through tall prairie grasses, even if it's just for a couple of weeks.

I enjoyed Ferguson's journeys - both the literal one from site to site, and her internal journey toward self-discovery - so much that I couldn't even put it down to take a bath, and finished the last couple of chapters while soaking in a tub of lavender-scented bubbles.

Kelly Kathleen Ferguson, I don't raise my sunbonnet to salute you. I drop it down my back, letting it hang from the strings...as any decent Laura fan should.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommend! November 3, 2011

By JCR

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The cover of My Life as Laura is striking. It features the author, Kelly Kathleen Ferguson, wearing her prairie dress and a smile, to show her dedication to Laura Ingalls Wilder. Yet, what may not be so obvious at first glance is the author's lifelong passion for all things Laura. Ferguson's about the author photo is more telling. The picture is of a young girl in her yearly elementary school photo, but, unlike the usual school photos, Ferguson smiles down in delight as she reads These Happy Golden Years. In her writing, she describes the story behind this photo in a way that would make any book lover grin.

Ferguson's childhood love for Laura is absolutely individual, while completely relatable. She recounts her allegiance to Laura at a young age, as well as her return to the books as an adult. Restless in her own life, Ferguson dons a thrift shop dress and begins to travel across the country, following in the footsteps of her hero Laura. At times Ferguson treks across the plains with Laura's brave demeanor, while at other times she feels the draw of modern distractions and concerns, like the embarrassment of being seen in the dress and the cocaine-like draw of the television show Law and Order.

I was constantly reminded of my own favorite moments from the Laura Ingalls Wilder books: the building of the little house, wolves circling at night, Laura finding beads on the ground, and a neighbor's dangerous trek through the snow to deliver Christmas presents. For a Laura lover, moments like these are too numerous to count. Ferguson adds new Laura stories, describing what Laura locations look and feel like today.

Even for those who are not die hard Laura fans, Ferguson's journey to find direction would be hard to resist. The writing here is honest and witty, divulging character flaws and apprehensions. Overall, the solitary journey helps Ferguson to connect with Laura, as well as reevaluate her connections with everyone from casual acquaintances, to a love interest, to family, and to friends. Ferguson simply shows that she's got character, just like Laura.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A witty, thoughtful, fun new take on LIW from a GenX POV November 3, 2011

By Trina R. Burke

Format:Paperback

As a book nerd and a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, of course I was going to be drawn to this book. As the author visits Wilder's various home sites across the west, her high regard for Wilder and her books is both expected and evident on every page. But what really impressed me is how she was able to weave this well-loved story of a pioneer girl's coming of age into her own story as a Gen-X feminist, over-educated and under-employed a century later. Her tale of a childhood longing for purpose and an adulthood overwhelmed by angst and indecision resonates against the backdrop of her plucky childhood hero. Ferguson is an insightful cultural commentator who makes the landscape of her travels come alive with both warmth and wicked humor.