My Antonia
My 聲tonia is considered the greatest novel by American writer Willa Cather. My 聲tonia - pronounced with the accent always on the first syllable of "聲tonia" - is the final book of the 'prairie trilogy' of novels by Cather, a list that also includes O Pioneers and The Song of the Lark. My 聲tonia tells the stories of several immigrant families who move out to rural Nebraska to start new lives in America, with a particular focus on a Bohemian family, the Shimerdas, whose eldest daughter is named 聲tonia. The book's narrator, Jim Burden, arrives in Black Hawk, Nebraska, on the same train as the Shimerdas, as he goes to live with his grandparents after his parents have died. Jim develops strong feelings for 聲tonia, something between a crush and a filial bond, and the reader views 聲tonia's life, including its attendant struggles and triumphs, through that lens. The book is divided into five volumes, some of which incorporate short stories Cather had previously written, based on her own life growing up on the Nebraska prairies. The volumes correspond roughly to the stages of 聲tonia's life up through her marriage and motherhood, although the fourth volume, "Lena Lingard," focuses more on Jim's time in college and his affair with Lena, another childhood friend of his and 聲tonia's. While interpretations vary, My 聲tonia is clearly an elegy to the proud, hard-working immigrants who built new lives west of the Mississippi, and highlights the role of women pioneers in particular.
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