Bright Lights, Prairie Dust

Author: Karen Grassle
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: She Writes Press, 2021
Pages: 349
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Karen Grassle, the beloved actress who played Ma on the Little House on the Prairie, grew up at the edge of the Pacific Ocean in a family where love was plentiful but alcohol wreaked havoc. In this candid memoir, Grassle reveals her journey to succeed as an actress even as she struggles to overcome depression, combat her own dependence on alcohol, and find true love. With humor and hard-won wisdom, Grassle takes readers on an aspiring journey through the political turmoil on 60s campuses, on to studies with some of the most celebrated artists at the famed London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and ultimately behind the curtains of Broadway stages and storied Hollywood sets. In these pages, readers meet actors and directors who have captivated us on screen and stage as they fall in love, betray and befriend, and don costumes only to reveal themselves. We know Karen Grassle best as the proud prairie woman Caroline Ingalls, with her quiet strength and devotion to family, but this memoir introduces readers to the complex, funny, rebellious, and soulful woman who, in addition to being the force behind those many strong women she played, fought passionately - as a writer, producer, and activist - on behalf of equal rights for women. Raw, emotional, and tender, Bright Lights celebrates and honors womanhood, in all its complexity.

Review: As a child, I was a huge fan of the Little House books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My mom read the series to my sister and I more than once, and I read it on my own as well as I got a little older. However, I could not get into the tv show. It just didn't follow the books closely enough, and the characters didn't look as I had imagined in my head - you know, typical reader probs.

I read a memoir (Prairie Tale) written by Melissa Gilbert, the tv Laura, a few years ago, and really enjoyed it. I'm always interested in reading other's experiences and enjoy a memoir from-time-to-time so Bright Lights, Prairie Dust it was.

Reading about Karen Grassle's family history and childhood was interesting to me. Reading about her struggles as an actress prior to the Little House show was not. Once she was cast as Ma, the memoir took off again. All in all, an interesting, quick read.