BookMarkers Discussion of My Antonia

The library's BookMarkers group met tonight to discuss My Antonia by Willa Cather. We spoke briefly about Willa Cather's life. Much of her work is based on her childhood experiences in Nebraska. Willa and her family, like Jim, left Virginia to travel to Nebraska by railroad. Willa was 9; Jim was 10. Willa's good friend Annie Pavelka inspired Antonia. Annie's father inspired Antonia's father. Both fathers were musicians; both could not adapt to the United States. About 2 years after Willa's family arrived at their Nebraska farm; they, like Jim and his grandparents, moved into town. Willa's Red Cloud echoed Jim's Black Hawk. We appreciated Willa's vivid description of the land, remembering how Jim described the country as "running....the whole prairie like bush burned with fire....She (Antonia) had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting....Sunflowers made a gold ribbon across the prairie." Several individuals recalled the immigrant experiences of their grandparents and great grandparents in Nebraska and other places in the Midwest. All agreed that Willa accurately described the hardships immigrants faced in adapting to their new country.
Please contact the library if you would like a staff member to facilitate your book discussion. The next facilitated discussion will be held on Wednesday, May 7 at the Mundelein Senior Center. It will start at 7:00 p.m.