O Pioneers! / Willa Cather

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Part of my 2020 Social Distancing Read-a-thon

I am at heart a prairie girl, and though Nebraska is quite different from Alberta, Cather's descriptions of the land absolutely captivated me. Not to mention all the Scandinavian settlers—there are a few of those in my background too. Funny isn't it how they're either unpleasantly religious or raging alcoholics? My Danish grandfather was the eldest son who should have run the home farm, but he ran away to Canada because he couldn't get along with his family. Here, he became a control freak and wondered why many of his own children couldn't wait to get away from him!

I was also blown away by the main character, Alexandra Bergson. For years, she puts her family first and when she gets a shot at happiness, they are outraged. How can a woman expect to have the life she wants? How I wish that attitude was completely gone from our society!

My first Cather novel, but certainly not my last.