The classic novel of an immigrant woman's life on the Nebraska plains is "a book for our times [and] an education in what it means to be American" (Bret Stephens, The New York Times).
They came to the prairie on the same train: Jim Burden, a ten-year-old orphan from Virginia en route to his new home with his prosperous grandparents, and Ántonia Shimerda, an immigrant from Bohemia, free-spirited and a few years older than Jim, traveling with her family. Through Jim's affectionate reminiscence of his childhood friend, a larger, uniquely American portrait emerges, both of a pioneer community struggling with unforgiving terrain and of a woman who, amid great hardship, stands as a timeless inspiration.
One of the most significant American novels of the twentieth century, Pulitzer Prize-winner Willa Cather's My Ántonia is an unforgettable story about coming of age, community, and the dangers and tragedies endured by those who made the long journey to the West.