I'm waffling between 2 and 3 stars on this book. It suffered from the same disjointedness as the previous book (like that one, probably due to the author having died before finishing it). Like other readers, I'm not super fond of the person Rose has turned out to be (although, unlike some, I'm relieved that she and Paul Cooley didn't end up together; he'd turned from someone who had supported Rose's dreams when they were only dreams to someone who worked to thwart them as they started to become a reality).

I think though, the ultimate cause of my dissatisfaction compared to the earlier books though, is that it was just badly written. I think I see what MacBride was trying to get at: Everywhere Rose goes, she is in but not of. Her new friends are missing the grounding of her life at home, but her life at home was a world being increasingly left behind. Rose was trying to find how to be an independent modern woman in a world where her main options were to be traditional or flighty. That's the tension I think the book was trying to navigate, but while MacBride's storytelling was sufficient for the earlier slice-of-life narratives, it did not live up to this more difficult challenge.

That said, I was glad to see Rose's childhood rounded off. ( )

love this series!!!!! ( )

This last volume of Little House: The Rose Years sees Rose Wilder truly on her own. She returns home to her parents' farm after her high school graduation and year in Louisiana. Life is relatively comfortable, but boring. She's in love, but her beau has yet to propose--he's trying to make a good enough living as a telegraph operator to support both a wife and his widowed mother. When he lands a job in Sacramento, California, Rose is despondent. She finally acts on an old idea of learning telegraphy herself. With her parents' help, she heads off to Kansas City to a telegraphy school. From there she struggles to overcome various challenges to make a new life for itself. It's an interesting tale, one worth checking out, though I didn't find it a very satisfying one. The book tries to make a connection between Rose's experience and the pioneer heritage of her parents and grandparents. While I concede that there is a connection, it seems more like she's trading in the pioneer values so prevalent in the previous books for ones that are more urban and 20th Century. Maybe I can't appreciate it because the series is starting to move from a setting that is, for me, a fantasy to one that is all too familiar and real. Or maybe it's because I've read Rose Wilder Lane's biography and know that Bachelor Girl's happy ending is still many years away from "happily ever after".
--J. ( )

Rose has started out on her own- empowered by her time in Louisiana, she is ready to become a self-supporting woman. She goes to telegraph school to join Paul’s profession, and switches jobs several times while making her way. Her biggest self-discovery comes when she realizes that she and Paul are going on different paths in life. ( )