> Elsewhere, the books minimize the role of government in the life of a family that sometimes did have to rely on it, as they took free land and benefited from

> Elsewhere, the books minimize the role of government in the life of a family that sometimes did have to rely on it, as they took free land and benefited from state funds that paid sister Mary Ingalls’s tuition at the Iowa School for the Blind for seven years, a public subsidy the books quietly omit. There was also a roller rink near where they lived. LH is a work of fiction. When I read the series it was advertised as such. I don't think it discounts the story much, because the real story is about Laura and how she experienced the world. Laura lived through quite a bit and the story was shaped to emphasize those things.