O Pioneers! Introduction by Elaine Showalter

The novel that first made Willa Cather famous-a powerfully mythic tale of the American frontier told through the life of one extraordinary woman-in a handsome hardcover volume. No other work of fiction so vividly evokes the harsh beauty and epic sweep of the Nebraska prairies that Cather knew and loved. The heroine of O Pioneers!, Alexandra Bergson, is a young Swedish immigrant at the turn of the twentieth century who inherits her father#x19;s windblasted land and, through years of hard work, turns it into a prosperous farm. Fiercely independent, Alexandra sacrifices love and companionship in her passionate devotion to the land, until tragedy strikes and brings with it the chance for a new life. One of our most beloved classics, one of the great heroines of American literature.

Willa Cather (1873–1947) was the author of twelve novels, including My Ántonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop.

Elaine Showalter is the author of A Jury of Her Peers: Celebrating American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx.