Cather raises a heartfelt story from the farms of Nebraska in My Antonia

My Antonia by Willa Cather is a beautiful book. The third of hers I have read, it is the story of living out in the Nebraska frontier. I enjoyed the previous 2, but particularly liked this one, and will be reading more of her books in the future.

This one centers around Jim Burden. When his parents die in Virginia, he goes to live with his grandparents in Nebraska at the age of 10. Here he sees the sometimes harsh, but well rewarding life of a frontier farmer. Growing up with many immigrants on neighboring farms, all families coming to America following the dream of success, he grows closest to the Shimerda’s and daughter Antonia, who hail from Bohemia. Antonia is a strong willed girl, who delights in doing men’s work around the farm. Not speaking any English, she learns quickly from Jim, and teaches the rest of her family. At first Jim doesn’t get many of the strange customs the Shimerda’s adhere to, but he gradually accepts their different ways of talking and doing things. The first third of the book follows this small corner of the world for those first couple years, ending around the time when Antonia’s father, who longed for his previous life as a musician and artist and hates being a farmer, commits suicide. Shortly after, Jim’s grandparents decide they are too old for the hard farming life. They lease out their farm and move to the closest city, Black Hawk.

Skipping ahead a couple years, Jim is in high school now. He is a “city boy” at heart, and while he reminisces about his time on the farm, he enjoys his new setting more. It isn’t long before Antonia follows him to the city, rooming with a neighbor so she can continue her schooling as well. Jim looks forward to college and bettering his way of life, while Antonia is more content to settle down and raise a family on the farm. Jim and Antonia continue to be friends, and run in a circle with other children of their age from the neighboring farms, who are looked down upon by kids that grew up in the city. Eventually, Jim does leave Black Hawk, and goes to the university in Lincoln.

Jim continues to keep in touch with friends back home, including Lena, a fellow farm-raised girl, who has moved to Lincoln to start a dressmaking business. Jim transfers to Harvard, where he goes in to law and becomes a successful lawyer. He now traves the globe, but still thinks about his time back on that farm from time to time. Jim hears that Antonia did eventually fall for a man, who left her pregnant and unmarried. Rather than live in shame though, her strong will holds her up. She marries a better man, and they go on to have many children. Jim returns to Black Hawk 20 years later, to find Antonia still there. Most of their friends have left town to bigger and better things, but Antonia has built a large farm. She is beaten down from a hard life, but still shows her strong will and perseverence. Her children have all been raised well, and know of Jim from all the stories Antonia loves to tell. Instead of seeing her life as a failure, she sees it as a triumphic success.

This book is a joy to read. I’m not ashamed to say it had me laughing and crying. Cather brings her characters to life, and feel as real as if they could walk through the door. When Jim learns of Antonia’s disgrace, your heart just breaks along with his. The author brings that same level of attention to the setting as well, and you can almost hear the wind across the plains, smell the cooking on the stove, feel the heat of the summers and the breath-taking cold of the harsh winters. A delightful, rewarding read.