Willa Cather

Willa Sibert Cather was born in Back Creek Valley, Virginia., on December. 7, 1873. She died on April. 24, 1947. Cather's work made her one of the most important American novelists of the first half of the 20th century. When Cather was nine, her family homesteaded in pioneer Nebraska. She was a tomboy at home in the saddle. enjoyed distinguished careers as journalist, editor, and fiction writer. Cather is most often thought of as a chronicler of the pioneer American West. Critics note that the themes of her work are intertwined with the universal story of the rise of civilizations in history, the drama of the immigrant in a new world, and views of personal involvements with art. Cather's fiction is characterized by a strong sense of place, the subtle presentation of human relationships, an often unconventional narrative structure, and a style of clarity and beauty. [Read more]

Obscure Destinies
Vintage Books, 1930 (PhP 40.00)
In the three stories that make up this volume Willa Cather returned with fresh enthusiasm to the Western scene of her earlier novels. In "Neighbour Rosicky" admirers of "My Antonia" will discover a story that is almost like a pendant to that remarkable book. Anton Rosicky is a Bohemian exile who, after many experiences in London and New York, lives out his life on a prairie farm. Either of the "Two Friends" might have stepped out of the pages of "A Lost Lady," and might have belonged to the circle of Marian Forrester;s chivalrous admirers. They are American businessmen of the Old West, the age of railroad-building, large outlook, liberal methods, romantic feeling, "when business was still a personal adventure." "Old Mrs. Harris" stands alone. Willa Cather never wrote anything else in the least like it. Tragic human meanings underlie its apparently careless and light-hearted mood. The scene is a Colorado town in the brilliant sand-hill countryl the story is the old riddle of human relationships, the struggle of three women under one roof, each living her own life and following her own destiny.