Bachelor Girl (Little House Sequel)

I absolutely hated to see the end of these books. I was so wanting to keep following Roses life after Bachelor Girl! Update: to find out where Bachelor Girl leaves off and Rose and Gillette Lane continue you have to order ROSE WILDER LANE, HER STORY. Toward the end part of the book it tells about after their marriage.

"Bachelor Girl" was a nice closing episode to the 'Rose' series of books. It was a well-chosen ending place to the story as Rose clearly is leaving the child world and entering that of the adult at the end. The 'Rose' series, overall, makes a nice compliment to the original 'Laura' series--not as good, mind you, but a decent sequel. The series starts off a bit slow and uneventfully, but picks up in the later books. I'd recommend them to young readers who've read the 'Laura' books and want more of the story. They don't have, and won't give, the same historical sense as the original series, however, as they lack that element of first-hand flavor Laura was able to give to an era she actually lived through. Now the nit-picking critique...I found myself questioning the portrayal of Rose's personality in this 8th book. In the previous books she'd been pridefully, almost arrogantly, confident in her intelligence and educational achievements. Though she hadn't socialized well with kids her age she had been bold and out-going in other ways (dating a college man, etc.). Now, grownup and on her own, Rose is suddenly shy and uncertain, letting herself be trod upon and looked down upon. And tell me, would a girl who had managed to learn fluent Latin in less than a year have to look up the definition of "inhibitions"? Laura, even when she was being a proper young lady, always held onto her inner rebelliousness--Rose's seems to have been nearly snuffed out in most of this book. I also wondered about her sudden interest in being a housewife. Flirting with the idea of playing house with Paul could have worked better if it had been clearly battling inside her with her desire for independence. The entire Paul relationship was not quite as deftly worked as it could have been. Its resolution was foreshadowed in a clunky, predictable way. It was interesting to meet Rose's future husband (and future ex-husband), Gillette Lane. He was not fully fleshed out as a character, but one could see how he would both fascinate her with his flash and style and, regrettably, the traits that could make the relationship fall apart later. Oddly, San Francisco didn't come to life in the story. A curious omission was the cable cars. I never quite felt I could place her within the City even though several specific places were mentioned (including places where the, mentioned, street cars would have been cable cars). The atmosphere was missing. Something I would have liked to have seen hints of was Rose's future career as a journalist. Though she wrote many letters (were these historically authentic? ), the inclination to a writing career didn't come through. Though these books were written as children's or young adult's stories--fiction based on fact-- I would dearly have loved to have seen an "historical notes" section at the end.

Another great Little House in the prairie sequel story

Many reviews mention how this book promotes drinking, smoking and other scandalous activities. Also it portrayed as a book not meant for young readers and a book of lies.This series is fictitious based on events in the life of Rose. It is not an autobiography. Even the original Little House had changes here and there on how things occurred or the names of the people in the books.This book shows Rose, grown up, on her own, going to school to be a telegraph operator and moving to California. She moves to a big city, lives in some shady places, goes out on the town with people she barely knows. These are all things that every person deals with as the grow up. Peer pressure to drink and party at a young age. Rose displays restraint in activities.You also watch her grow as she learns who she is.

My daughter and I started off reading the Little House books together. We enjoyed them so much that we started looking for other books similar to them. We didn't realize that there were stories about other women in that family. We are thoroughly enjoying reading about all 5 generations of the family. While the books about Rose, Caroline, Charlotte and Martha are not quite as enjoyable as the original series, they are still a must read for any Little House fans. I would recommend them all.

This was a very poorly done ending to a wonderful series. The first five books of the Rose Wilder series were charming, beautifully written, and brimmed with a wonderful array of characters that were all quirky and memorable in their own right. The sixth book, New Dawn On Rocky Ridge, was when I noticed a shift in the writing style (likely due to the death of Roger Lea MacBride and other writers having to take over by then) and some of the beloved characters falling off the map and not being mentioned any further. Many of them are missing entirely in seventh book, On The Banks Of The Bayou, but that was to be expected because that whole book was about Rose's year with her aunt in Louisiana. So naturally, I couldn't wait for the final book where she would return to Missouri so that I could see what became of Laura, Almanzo, and all of the other wonderful people that enriched Rose's life in the previous installments.All I can say is, what a disappointment. For anyone who is wondering what became of Abe and Nate, you will never find out. They are not mentioned once in this book. Rose never asks her parents about them, and she never even thinks about them once in the narrative, which is completely contrary to the character given that she grew up with them and referred to them as family in the earlier installments. Blanche Coday is not seen but mentioned very briefly, but there is no mention of any of the other girls that Rose grew up with, such as Alva or Elsa Beaumont. Even Rose's parents serve nothing more than a small cameo, and mostly at the expense of Rose not bothering to contact them or thinking them too old-fashioned for her, which is a disgrace considering how they raised her in the previous installments.The only person that really gets any highlight here from the other books is Paul Cooley, which is both a good and bad thing. After being apart the past few books, readers finally get a chance to see them together and discussing their future. I couldn't wait for this moment, but once it came, I was left feeling very disappointed. The whole series seems to build towards them coming together, but by the time they do, Rose's character has been written so differently that it's impossible to root for her. Having followed what became of the real Rose Wilder Lane, I did know well ahead of time that she does not marry Paul Cooley and marries Gillette Lane instead, so I did prepare myself for the inevitable knowing that this book couldn't possibly end with her and Paul together because it wasn't true to Rose's life. That being said, it was all written way too fast and very sloppily. We don't even meet Gillette Lane until the last 40 pages or so of this book and when we do, he is a party boy who drinks and dances all night long and spouts out sleazy lines to Rose. How are we supposed to want her to end up with an obnoxious playboy over the sweet country boy she grew up with? Had Gillette Lane been introduced earlier in the book and written in a manner where he was revealed to actually have a heart, conscious, and real feelings for Rose rather than superficial ones, then maybe I could have been more accepting of Rose following him and the new path that her life was taking her. But as it stands, I found myself pretty repelled by her decisions. She basically becomes a party girl herself, is more concerned with plastering make-up and buying expensive dresses that she can't afford to put up appearances, and becomes best friends with an air-headed and superficial girl that would have made Lois Beaumont of the previous books look like a saint. It's impossible to root for this new version of Rose. The writers (whoever they were, because it wasn't Roger Lea MacBride) try to make us believe that this Rose is coming-of-age and grown up, but she comes off as selfish and idiotic at best.All in all, if you are a fan of the Little House series and of Rose in particular, stop after New Dawn On Rocky Ridge or On The Banks Of The Bayou. The first five books of this series were outstanding, the two afterward were semi-decent, and the last was a waste. What a huge and disappointing ending to a great series.

The series is finally over and I’m a bit disappointed in it to be completely honest. Not that I wanted it to go on forever, but the ending was pretty lacklustre.As I’ve said in the previous reviews, the author had died prior to publishing book 5 and Rose’s character had changed quite frequently. There is no consistency to her. As books 7 and 8 are considerably shorter than the earlier six, I feel like they could have been condensed into one single volume and cut some of the crap.This is the “woe is me, nothing is going the way I want it to” Rose, following on from the brat and the studious character. She pines after Paul, but won’t force his hand, or try and make a go of things elsewhere.The only stand out moment in this book, is a character called Gillette appearing, on page 156. We only find his name in a telegram to begin with, but he does become a part of Rose’s life. Obviously, considering she married him. (And divorced.)But dear god, what an ass he is. I felt like reaching into the book and shaking Rose to try and make her see sense. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, whether the fact that I knew their marriage only lasted 9 years wasn’t influencing my thoughts of him. But he was a pretentious, cocky ass! He was written very badly and came across as a totally unlikeable character, against poor dependable Paul.And whatever happened to Paul? Well, we don’t really know. I would have liked to have seen some sort of closure there. He just leaves.But really, the book just kind of ends. It just stops. It doesn’t show Rose (happily) married, like her mother and grandmother before her (and probably her great grandmother and great great grandmother but I haven’t read those books.) It just ends with her running off to California to be with a man (call me old fashioned) that she barely knows. After harping on about Paul for the last half of the series. Jeez Rose, make up your mind. I was kind of thinking Mr Skidmore from the previous book might come back and we might finally find out his first name.Overall? The series just falls a bit flat after the author dies. Sure his daughter and publisher/ghostwriter have done their best, but there’s something missing and the rest of the books have just been a bit dull. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend these. I will still be keeping them, but I prefer the Laura/Caroline books.

love the book and, love the price it was just right. but in some parts the language wasn't quite right but i would still buy it. and love the other series of the little house books. read them all.

I can't believe the books end here! After following the Little House books all the way through from The Little House in the Big Woods I am completely bereft! I want to know what happens to Rose now!

great

Great book. Meant a lot to me growing up. Bought for my nieces.