O Pioneers!

O Pioneers! (1913) is the first book in Willa Cather's Prairie Trilogy, followed by The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Antonia (1918). It is a story about a family of Swedish immigrants farming in Hanover, Nebraska. The Bergson family faces the same difficult struggles as other homesteaders but the heroine of the story, Alexandra Bergson, comes to the forefront after her father dies and she takes up the challenge of making the farm a viable enterprise while other immigrant families are leaving their land in search of easier lives. The strong-willed and intelligent heroine is a memorable character in American Literature.

Featured in our collection of 25 Great American Novels