My Antonia

My Ántonia (first published 1918) is considered the greatest novel by American writer Willa Cather. My Ántonia - pronounced with the accent on the first syllable of "Ántonia" - 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.

Related Topics:
1918 - Willa Cather - Accent - Syllable - O Pioneers! - The Song of the Lark

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My Ántonia 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 Ántonia. 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 Ántonia, something between a crush and a filial bond, and the reader views Ántonia's life, including its attendant struggles and triumphs, through that lens.

Related Topics:
Immigrant - Nebraska - Bohemian - Black Hawk

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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 Ántonia'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 Ántonia's.

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While interpretations vary, My Ántonia is clearly an elegy to the proud, hard-working immigrants who built new lives west of the Mississippi River and highlights the role of women pioneers in particular.

Related Topics:
Elegy - Mississippi River - Pioneers

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A made-for-television movie, also entitled My Antonia, was based on this novel.

Related Topics:
Television - Movie - My Antonia

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My Ántonia is available in a number of editions ranging from free editions available on the Web to inexpensive, mass-market paperbacks to expensive "scholarly editions" aimed at more serious students of Cather's work.

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