My Antonia

First published in 1918, “My Antonia” is the final book of Willa Cather’s “prairie trilogy” of novels, preceded by “O Pioneers!” and “The Song of the Lark.” It is the classic story of the daughter of the immigrant Bohemian Shimerda family that sets out to farm the untamed prairie land of Nebraska in the late 19th century. The father of the family finds the demands of this new life unbearable. He did not want to leave his homeland where he had a home, a trade, and friends, but does so because his wife believes their children will have a better life in America. The burdens of this new life become too much for the father to bear and he commits suicide before the end of the first winter. Told to us from the perspective of the adoring Jim Burden, an orphan who comes to live at his grandparent’s neighboring farm, “My Antonia” is an enduring American classic rich with both the spirit that brought so many immigrants to this land in search of a better life and of the tragic circumstances that affected so many pioneers. Will Cather viewed “My Antonia” as the best book that she had ever written and countless of her fans have concurred with her opinion ever since its original publication. This edition includes a biographical afterword.