O Pioneers by Willa Cather

Monday, July 31 through Friday, August 18, 2023. Read by Susan Sweeney.

Willa Cather established her reputation as a writer of extraordinary talent with the publication of “O Pioneers!”. The lives of two very different heroines unfold during a time when the wild lands of the frontier broke the spirit of many of America’s hopeful Swedish, Czech, Bohemian, and French immigrant farmers. When Alexandra Bergson inherits the family farm as a young girl, she reveals herself to be as uncommonly determined, enterprising, and capable as she is charismatic. Meanwhile, the relationship between Alexandra’s brother Emil and the beautiful Marie Shabata plays out in what many critics view as some of Cather’s finest writing. Throughout, the land itself emerges as a character that challenges and changes the lives it supports.

(Public Domain)

Theme: “Our Town”, Aaron Copland, London Symphony Orchestra; Copland Conduct Copland