OPINIONSrnLizzie Borden’s Mama Was No Writerrnby Chilton Williamson, Jr.rn”One bates an author that’s all author.”rn—Lord ByronrnThe Ghost in the Little House:rnA Life of Rose Wilder LanernhyW’iWiamWolizrnColumbia: University of Missouri Press;rn425pp.J29.95rnThe line between the Old Americarnand the New is closer than most ofrnus think. A single generation separatesrnnot only the Western pioneer from thernSt. Louis suburbanite, it separates thernNew Woman from the Old. Rose WilderrnLane, child of westering parents, wasrnborn in a claim shant in Dakota Territoryrnand died two years after the U.S.rnDepartment of Defense sent her tornSaigon to propagandize on behalf of thernGreat Society’s War for Democracy inrnSoutheast Asia. As the emancipated—orrnliberated, as we say today—cosmopoliterndaughter of an Ozark matron andrnfarmwife, she was also an early divorceernconcerned with the difficulties of a professionalrnwoman seeking to reconcile thernduties of matrimony with the demandsrnof a career, as vyell as a confirmed neuroticrnwho had a lifelong love-hate relationshiprnwith her mother, was incapablernof a sustained relationship with a memberrnof the opposite sex, and finally repudiatedrnnearly c’ery close friend of eitherrnsex she ever made.rnThis unsympathetic and essentiallyrnuninteresting figure somehow providesrnWilliam I loltz with a sympathetic subject,rnperhaps because he discovered thatrnshe offered him a theory to push. Mrs.rnLane, a hack journalist, slick Bction writer,rnand third-rate novelist until her attentionsrnwere claimed b- narrowly politicalrnenthusiasms, happened also to bernthe daughter of Laura higalls Wilder ofrnfar greater literary fame; and the irony isrnChilton Williamson, ]r., is senior editorrnfor books at Chronicles.rnthat while Mr. Holtz’s stated purpose isrnto rectify the imbalance between undeservedrnoblivion on the one hand and unearnedrncelebrity on the other, the ghostrnin his biography overshadows its ostensiblernsubject as much as he claims thernpresence of Mrs. Lane haunts the socalledrnLittle House books of which herrnmother continues after 60 years to bernrecognized as the independent author,rnhi this case the phantom has been conjuredrnby sheer and obvious loathing, forrnHoltz’s hatred of the older woman—rncaught apparently b’ contagion from thernyounger one—is undiluted by an equalrnmeasure of filial love, however torturedrnand confused. As an exorcist, Holtz is ofrnno use at all: Mama Bess (as Laura wasrnknown to her family) rampages behindrnthe wainscoting from the front of thernbook to the back—a domineering, ungenerous,rngrasping, sponging, parochialrnsnob and philistine (as well as “a determinedrnbut amateurish writer to thernend”), who withheld maternal affectionrnfrom her only surviving child and whosern”last gift” from beyond the grave was arnprobable diabetic condition in old age.rnSince Mr. I loltz has produced a finelyrnresearched, beautifully written, andrnvery readable biography, it is more thernpity that he has done himself the disservicernof grinding his axe in plain view ofrnhis public, and that public another disservicernby prompting it to mistrust hisrnjudgment and suspend its own, pendingrna personal perusal of the evidence. IfrnMrs. Wildcr’s reputation as the untutoredrngenius of Mansfield, Missouri—rnthe literary Grandma Moses of thernOzarks—is, as William I loltz asserts it tornbe, a myth, then any but the most sentimentalrnreader ought to be prepared andrnwilling to acknowledge that claim: thernnine books attributed to Laura IngallsrnWilder and published in her name standrnlike the Teton peaks from American literature,rnand their beauty and perfectionrncannot be diminished by discovery ofrnauthorial collaboration, which indeedrnmight be taken for elegant proof that arnhorse may be a camel designed by arncommittee. If Rose Lane was in fact thernghost—”the spirit, vital principle”—behindrnher mother’s work, well and good:rnlet honor be given where honor is due.rnBut why does Holtz appear to find evenrngreater pleasure in taking with the leftrnhand what he happily gives with thernright?rnWhat is merely of interest in Mr.rnHoltz’s book is the literary detective workrnby which he seeks to prove his case; whatrnis crucial is the mystery it implies regardingrnthe nature and operation of literaryrngenius. The facts, briefly stated,rnare as follows:rn26/CHRONICLESrnrnrn