Coming, Aphrodite!

After moving to Red Cloud, Nebraska, Willa Cather quickly embraced the mythology of the prairie states. Many of the stories in Coming, Aphrodite! are inspired by the townsfolk, rumors, and history she first encountered in her new home. "Peter" is based on the suicide of a bohemian farmhand named Frank Sadelek, a figure who haunted Cather's memory for many years; "The Sculptor's Funeral" portrays the disparity between an acclaimed artist and his "barbarian" neighbors; and "Old Mrs. Harris". a portrait of a woman who endured the hardships of farm life, can be read as a tribute to Cather's parents who followed their own version of the American dream. The stories "The Diamond Mine" and "Scandal" highlight Cather's views of the turn-of-the-century woman and are still admired for their insights on gender and modernity.

Born in Virginia in 1873 and raised on a Nebraska ranch, Willa Cather is known for her beautifully evocative short stories and novels about the American West. Cather became the managing editor for McClure’s Magazine in 1906 and lived for forty years in New York City with her companion Edith Lewis. In 1922 Cather won the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours, the story of a Western boy in World War I. In 1933 she was awarded the Prix Femina Americaine “for distinguished literary accomplishments.” She died in 1947.

Photo: AKG London