O Pioneers!Willa Cather’s powerful story about a family of farmers—an instant American classic The first novel in Willa Cather’s Prairie Trilogy tells the story of the Bergsons, a family of immigrants eking out a hardscrabble life as farmers in Nebraska at the turn of the nineteenth century. Alexandra, the eldest child of Bergson patriarch John, inherits the family farm when her father dies. Left to raise her father’s three sons and somehow turn a struggling farm around, Alexandra is tasked with pulling her family up by its bootstraps. Unfortunately, her brothers aren’t made of the same strong pioneer stock as she is. When drought, depression, and other agricultural disasters hit, it’s up to Alexandra to pull the family through. Along the way, the neighbor boy, Carl Linstrum, catches her eye. But when families begin lighting out for greener pastures in the West, the Bergsons’ fortunes take a turn. Can the family survive the brutal Midwest hardships, or worse—the Bergson brothers’ frivolous nature? Will Alexandra, emotional lodestone and embodiment of the American can-do spirit, ever find happiness—or love? Cather’s novel shows readers the story of the American frontier. O Pioneers! is the 1st book in the Prairie Trilogy, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices. |
Contents
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Section 17 | |
Section 18 | |
Section 19 | |
Section 20 | |
Section 21 | |
Section 22 | |
Section 23 | |
Section 9 | |
Section 10 | |
Section 11 | |
Section 12 | |
Section 13 | |
Section 14 | |
Section 15 | |
Section 24 | |
Section 25 | |
Section 26 | |
Section 27 | |
Section 28 | |
Section 29 | |
Section 30 | |
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Common terms and phrases
afraid afternoon Alexandra asked Alexandra looked Amedee Amedee's Angelique Annie began birds Bohemian Bohemian girl boys Carl laughed Carl Linstrum Carl rose Cherry County church dark door ducks Emil Emil’s everything eyes face farm father feel felt fields Frank Shabata French gate girls grass graveyard hand Hanover hard head heard heart homestead horses ironweed Ivar's John Bergson kitchen knew land laughed light live Lou and Oscar Lou's mare Marie Shabata married Medee Milly morning mother neighbors Nelse never night o'clock orchard pasture path pond remember Sainte-Agnes scythe seemed shoulder Signa sister sitting sitting-room slowly sometimes stood stopped Sunday supper Swedish talk tell There's things thought told took Tovesky town trees wagon walked wheat wheatfield white mulberry wife wild wild things WILLA CATHER woman yellow young