Willa Cather’s 1918 novel My Antonia follows Antonia Shermida and her family’s story of moving to Nebraska from Bohemia, as told retrospectively through the lens of Antonia’s childhood friend, Jim Burden.
It is a story about the vulnerability of being an immigrant in a new land and the unyielding nature of the human spirit. It’s about change, adaptability, the pioneering spirit vs the settled and complacent, and it is a love letter to the Great Plains. Above all, Willa Cather’s ability to write simple, plain-spoken sentences that are nonetheless beautifully descriptive shines throughout this novel.
I recommend this book to fans of Edith Wharton, William Faulkner, and Henry James.
Review by Andrew
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