Back to the Prairie
A Home Remade, A Life Rediscovered
1 of 1 copy available
The New York Times bestselling author and star of Little House on the Prairie returns with a hilarious and heartfelt memoir chronicling her journey from Hollywood to a ramshackle house in the Catskills during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Known for her childhood role as Laura Ingalls Wilder on the classic NBC show Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Gilbert has spent nearly her entire life in Hollywood. From Dancing with the Stars to a turn in politics, she is always on the lookout for her next project. She just had no idea that her latest one would be completely life changing.
When her husband introduces her to the wilds of rural Michigan, Melissa begins to fall back in love with nature. And when work takes them to New York, they find a rustic cottage in the Catskill Mountains to call home. But "rustic" is a generous description for the state of the house, requiring a lot of blood, sweat, and tears for the newlyweds to make habitable.
When the pandemic descends on the world, it further nudges Melissa out of the spotlight and into the woods. She trades Botox treatments for DIY projects, power lunching for gardening and raising chickens, and soon her life is rediscovered anew in her own little house in the Catskills.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
May 10, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781797141145
- File size: 202625 KB
- Duration: 07:02:08
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Fans of Melissa Gilbert and "Little House on the Prairie" will get a lift during this performance of her second memoir, this one detailing her life with Timothy Busfield. Although Gilbert's voice has matured with age, one still hears the perky nuances that made her performances as Laura Ingalls so endearing. Anecdotes are filled with joy, anger, hope, and laughter as the couple leave California and settle down in the Catskills. Gilbert displays wonder as she gets to know the wildlife around their renovated home, determination as she builds and tends a garden, and love and respect for her husband during the challenging isolation of the Covid pandemic. It seems Gilbert's life has come full circle. Busfield's narration of his introduction is icing on the cake. S.D.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine -
February 28, 2022
Actor Gilbert (Prairie Tale) leaves Hollywood behind for life in the country in this utterly entertaining account. With her characteristic wit and self-deprecating charm, Gilbert—best known for her role as Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House on the Prairie—takes readers on a ride through the highs and lows of her recent life with her husband, actor and West Wing alum Timothy Busfield. A few years after an eventful (practice) run for Congress in Michigan in 2015, she and Tim purchased a run-down house in upstate New York. Just as they had finished rehabbing their little home, the pandemic hit, forcing the two actors to fully commit to rustic life, which included building a chicken coop, raising chicks (“I was a motherclucker”), and gardening. Hilariously recounting their new life “on a DIY budget,” Gilbert writes, “We were the aspiring Chip and Joanna Gaines of the Catskills.” While decrying pandemic pounds, Gilbert peppers in delicious recipes for comfort food staples that saw her through her rockier days, such as slow cooker “loaded baked potato soup,” spaghetti pie, and gingersnap pumpkin pie. Along the way, she delights in the little things that came from hunkering down, revealing that she’s not above such simple joys as Trader Joe’s stuffing-flavored potato chips. Fans will have no trouble devouring this.
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