Cather, Willa – The Bell Bookshop

A lost lady

Emma — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books

How light and alive she was! Like a bird caught in a net . . .

Marian Forrester enchants everyone around her: her husband, an elderly railroad pioneer; the small town of Sweet Water; and Niel Herbert, her unwavering confidant. Yet, her irresistible charm and dazzling wit conceal a dangerous vulnerability – and her greatest secret. A significant inspiration for The Great Gatsby, this exquisite novella is a poignant elegy for a bygone era, fading into history.

My Antonia

Emma — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Set in rural Nebraska, Willa Cather’s My Ãntonia is both the intricate story of a powerful friendship and a brilliant portrayal of the lives of rural pioneers in the late-nineteenth century.

Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library, a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold-foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition has an afterword by Bridget Bennett and original illustrations by W. T. Benda.

Ãntonia and her family are from Bohemia and they must endure real hardship and loss to establish a new home in America. But Ãntonia is never broken by adversity, and her strength and love of life stays with her childhood friend Jim for years to come, even as he leaves home to study and pursue his career. Told through Jim’s eyes, My Ãntonia is a rich and beautiful novel about childhood and growing up, different cultures and the lure of home.

My Antonia

Emma — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The final novel in the Great Plains trilogy, this is a celebration of the American midwest with Cather’s strongest heroine at its heart

Jim and Ãntonia meets as children in the wide open plains of Nebraska at the end of the nineteenth century. Jim leaves for college and a career in the east, while Ãntonia stays at home, dedicating herself to her farm and family. As the years roll by, Jim will come to view Ãntonia as the embodiment of the prairie itself – tough, spirited and enduring, despite the hardness and loneliness of pioneer life. Willa Cather’s beautiful novel is a celebration of the Nebraskan prairie she loved she much, and a powerful depiction of a pivotal era in the making of America.

Song Of The Lark

Emma — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The second novel in the Great Plains trilogy, this is a passionate portrait of the artist as a young woman

Thea Kronberg, a young girl from a small town in Colorado has a great gift – her beautiful singing voice. Her talent takes her to the great opera houses of Europe, and through ambition and hard work, she forges a life as an artist. But if she can never go home again, nor can she leave behind her past. At last, in a desert canyon in Arizona, Thea has a revelation that will allow her to attain a new state of spirituality and become a truly great artist.

‘Willa Cather makes a world which is burningly alive, sometimes lovely, often tragic’ Helen Dunmore

‘The Song of the Lark illuminates all her work’ A. S. Byatt

‘Lingers long in the memory’ Joyce Carol Oates