O Pioneers!

One of AmericaΓÇÖs greatest women writers,Willa Cather established her talent and her reputation with this extraordinary novelΓÇöthe first of her books set on the Nebraska frontier. A tale of the prairie land encountered by AmericaΓÇÖs SwedishCzechBohemianand French immigrantsas well as a story of how the land challenged themchanged themandin some casesdefeated themCatherΓÇÖs novel is a uniquely American epic. Alexandra Bergsona young Swedish immigrant girl who inherits her fatherΓÇÖs farm and must transform it from raw prairie into a prosperous enterpriseis the first of CatherΓÇÖs great heroinesΓÇöall of them women of strong will and an even stronger desire to overcome adversity and succeed. But the wild land itself is an equally important character in CatherΓÇÖs booksand her descriptions of it are so evocativelushand moving that they provoked writer Rebecca West to say of her: ΓÇ£The most sensuous of writersWilla Cather builds her imagined world almost as solidly as our five senses build the universe around us.ΓÇ¥ Willa Catherperhaps more than any other American writerwas able to re-create the real drama of the pioneerscapturing for later generations a timea placeand a spirit that has become part of our national heritage.