April Book Club: “Prairie Roots & Memory Blooms

Book: My Ántonia by Willa Cather

As spring deepens and the land begins to bloom, we turn to a classic that celebrates — and complicates — our connection to place, memory, and identity. My Ántonia, published in 1918, is Willa Cather’s best-known novel, a heartfelt tribute to the immigrant spirit and the American prairie.

Told through the eyes of Jim Burden, the novel centers on Ántonia Shimerda, a Bohemian girl growing up in Nebraska. Through her strength, hardship, and grace, Cather crafts a vivid, unsentimental portrait of frontier life — and of the people who shape our inner landscapes long after we’ve left them.

Though most likely I won’t be at this month’s gathering (plans may change), our club will be warmly hosted by fellow members ready to lead discussion. This is a perfect book for reflection — about what we carry forward, what we leave behind, and how literature preserves the voices of women often overlooked in history.