I came into this book with some preconceptions. I knew Garland had written some books about pioneering on the prairie so I thought it would be in the same vein. And given the title, I figured the main character would be a woman. Wrong! This book is about Hamlin Garland and his career as a writer. So unless you are a fan of Garland, give it a skip. Despite being a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1922, there is not much in it to interest anyone who is not really interested in him personally. It is certainly not about pioneering. Also, throughout the book Garland moans about being poor and about how depressing it is to be around old people, including his own mother & father. He must not have been too poor since he spent $1000 to ship his horse home and was constantly taking trips out west and moving from Wisconsin to Chicago to New York every few months. Made me tired just to read about it! I kept thinking, for God's sake, man, stay home! I never did figure out who the "daughter" in the title is...his mom? his wife? He never really says.
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