In life, loss was the engine that set Wilder's fiction in motion. Exile propelled the powerful emotional current of the Little House books, an intensely felt nostalgia for people and places lost to her. That emotion was absent in Free Land, relegating it to homesteading soap opera. Its loosely linked anecdotes were joined not by familial love but by Lane's, and the 's, ideology.
Caroline Fraser's "Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder" explores the deep emotional currents in Wilder's fiction, suggesting that the theme of loss is fundamental to her storytelling. In her Little House series, the backdrop of exile evokes a strong sense of nostalgia for lost people and places, which drives the emotional impact of her narratives and connects the reader to Wilder's experiences and heritage.
In contrast, Fraser argues that "Free Land" lacks this profound emotional resonance, presenting a story that resembles a homesteading soap opera. The anecdotes within this book are not unified by the warmth of familial love but are instead bound together by Lane's and Wilder's ideological perspectives, resulting in a narrative that diverges from the compelling personal connections found in her more celebrated works.