Well, I’m almost done with the entire Little House series. This is the second series by Melissa Wiley (who also wrote the Caroline Years) about Laura’s great grandmother, Martha Morse. It’s interesting to know that she was rather wealthy, being the daughter of a lord (or laird as Wiley tries to write most of the words with a Scottish bent) Funny when you think about Laura Ingalls’ humbler upbringing. But it fits in the overarching story about each women in the family being a pioneer. While Wiley doesn’t get into Martha’s journey to early America, you can tell she has the adventurous spirit of her descendants.

Instead, Wiley contributes her usual research excellence in imbuing the reader into the culture and traditions of the Highlands in the 1700s like the superstitions associated with Hogmanay, and christenings; Celtic fairy tales and songs, and the many duties and cultural expectations of being a lord’s daughter.

And honestly, that’s about it for my thoughts. I enjoyed the fairy tales that the family shared around the fire, as well as bits about family history like her grandfather dying in Bonnie Prince Charlie’s war but otherwise, the series was rather slow and forgettable. It starts when Martha is around 4 and ends when she’s 11, so there’s not much change or development on her part.

Knowing that she’d grow up to marry the blacksmith’s son, and move to America with practically nothing, I’d much rather see that journey especially since the series is about the different sorts of frontiers and pioneers in the family.