Synopses & Reviews
Emigrating from Bohemia to Black Hawk, Nebraska, with her family, Ántonia discovers no white-framed farmhouse or snug barn. Instead, the cultured Shimerda family finds itself huddled in a primitive sod house buffeted by the ceaselessly blowing winds on the Midwest prairie. For her childhood friend Jim Burden, Ántonia comes to embody the elemental spirit of this frontier. Working alongside men, she survives without compromising the rich, deep power of her nature. And Willa Cathers lush descriptions of the rolling Nebraska grasslands interweave with the blossoming of a woman in the early days of the twentieth century in a novel that is an epic chronicle of Americas past. My Ántonia is one of those rare, highly prized works of great literature that not only enriches its readers but immerses them in a tale superbly told. The novel Cather herself considered her best,
My Ántonia is one of those rare, highly prized works of great literature that not only enriches its readers but immerses them in a tale superbly told.
With an Introduction by Marilyn Sides
and a New Afterword by Terese Svoboda
Review
"To reread Cather is the rediscover an arresting chapter in the national past." --
Los Angeles TimesReview
"No romantic novel ever written in America, by man or woman, is one half so beautiful as
My Antonia. It is the finest thing of its sort ever done in America."--H. L. Mencken
"Can one name another American novel whose emotional quality is so true, so warm, so human as that of My Antonia."--Clifton Fadiman
"To reread Cather is to rediscover an arresting chapter in the national past."--Los Angeles Times
"The time will come when she'll be ranked above Hemingway."--Leon Edel
Synopsis
Beloved American novelist Willa Cather's nostalgic classic about life on the Midwest prairie. Emigrating from Bohemia to Black Hawk, Nebraska, with her family, Antonia discovers no white-framed farmhouse or snug barn. Instead, the cultured Shimerda family finds itself huddled in a primitive sod house buffeted by the ceaselessly blowing winds on the Midwest prairie. For her childhood friend Jim Burden, Antonia comes to embody the elemental spirit of this frontier. Working alongside men, she survives without compromising the rich, deep power of her nature. And Willa Cather's lush descriptions of the rolling Nebraska grasslands interweave with the blossoming of a woman in the early days of the twentieth century in a novel that is an epic chronicle of America's past. My Antonia is one of those rare, highly prized works of great literature that not only enriches its readers but immerses them in a tale superbly told. The novel Cather herself considered her best, My Antonia is one of those rare, highly prized works of great literature that not only enriches its readers but immerses them in a tale superbly told.
With an Introduction by Marilyn Sides
and an Afterword by Terese Svoboda
Synopsis
Lush descriptions of the rolling Nebraska grasslands interweave with the blossoming of a woman in the early days of the twentieth century, in an epic novel that chronicles America's past.
Synopsis
Thea Kronberg and her singing voice are headed for great things. But her provincial Colorado town has practically stifled her. Her talent and pioneer's spirit takes Thea to New York, even Germany, but with loneliness as her only companion...
Synopsis
100th Anniversary Edition Miss Cather, indeed, here steps definitely into the small class of American novelists who are seriously to be reckoned with.”H. L. Mencken
To reread Cather is to rediscover an arresting chapter in the national past.”Los Angeles Times
Feisty Thea Kronborg, with her rapturous singing voice, is headed for great things. But her upbringing in a raw, provincial Colorado town has practically stifled her artistic ambitions. Only a few people in Moonstone recognize Theas world-class talent. One of them is Ray Kennedy, who, entranced by Theas voice, hopes to marry her, but is destined to unchain her. Sustained by determination and a pioneers spirit, and inspired by the Native American culture that surrounded her in youth, Thea makes her way in the world. But with loneliness as her constant companion, she comes to realize what sacrifices a true artist must make.
With an Introduction by Melissa Homestead
About the Author
WILLA CATHER (18731948) was born in Winchester, Virginia. Her family moved to Nebraska before she was ten. During her teens she learned both Latin and Greek; she graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1895. She then taught high school, worked for the Pittsburgh Leader, and spent a good deal of time traveling.
The Troll Garden (1905) was her first volume of short stories, and it was followed by her appointment as associate editor of
McClures magazine. She continued in this position for six years, but resigned in 1912 because she felt that the work for the magazine was interfering with her writing.
Alexanders Bridge, a short novel set in Boston, was published in the same year. In
O Pioneers! (1913), she turned to her greatest subject, immigrant life on the Nebraska prairies, and established herself as a major American novelist.
O Pioneers! was followed by more novels, including
My Ántonia (1918),
The Professors House (1922), and
Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927). Cather lived in New York for many years, and she was a familiar figure in intellectual and literary circles.
The Old Beauty and Others, a collection of short stories, was published posthumously.
MARILYN SIDES is the author of a collection of short stories, The Island of the Mapmaker's Wife and Other Tales, and of a novel, The Genius of Affection. She teaches literature and fiction writing at Wellesley College.
TERESE SVOBODA is the author of fourteen books of prose and poetry, including Bohemian Girl. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Yale Review, Poetry, Bomb, Paris Review, Harvard Review, Narrative and many other magazines. She received a Guggenheim in 2013.