Looking for Betty MacDonald: The Egg, the Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and I

This first biography of Betty MacDonald (1908–58), best known as the author of The Egg and I, the "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle" children's books, and creator of the iconic characters of Ma and Pa Kettle, is sure to be a must read for fans. Becker (staff historian, HistoryLink.org; coauthor, The Future Remembered) was granted access to MacDonald's archives including family-held materials no one had ever seen before. Becker is a longtime admirer and documents MacDonald's life with great love and respect. She covers MacDonald's unconventional family and childhood, her stay in a tuberculosis sanitarium, her marriages, writing career, and death. MacDonald's madcap and humorous life as written in her memoirs turns out to have a much darker side. With a generous number of photos, a family tree, a list of MacDonald's houses, Bard family "isms," extensive notes, an index, and further reading, this volume with send readers away satisfied and eager to reread their favorite MacDonald books.