O Pioneers! (version 2)
Willa Sibert Cather and Willa Cather
Read by Bellona Times
O Pioneers! tells the story of the Bergsons, a family of Swedish immigrants in the farm country near the fictional town of Hanover, Nebraska, at the turn of the 20th century. The main character, Alexandra Bergson, inherits the family farmland when her father dies, and she devotes her life to making the farm a viable enterprise at a time when other immigrant families are giving up and leaving the prairie. The novel is also concerned with two romantic relationships, one between Alexandra and family friend Carl Linstrum and another between Alexandra's brother Emil and the married Marie Shabata. (Summary by Wikipedia) (5 hr 56 min)
Chapters
Reviews
Beautifully read/interpreted and even performed by the reader
Darlene Boda
I don't know how to review this without spoilers, but the book summary at the beginning makes the story seem tired and tawdry and I listened to it anyway because I was away from WIFI and it was one I downloaded (because I was looking for the story "Cabbages Is Beautiful" and I thought it might have been an excerpt from this book.) This was a story that took it's time to unfold and was such a well-told tale of the resentment that the men of that time, specifically, harbor toward successful women who have triumphed over circumstances and worked their way into wealth, comfort, and enough influence to make men of lesser character and accomplishment resentful toward them. It was sad in a different way than I expected and highlighted a few red flags to watch for in men with whom you choose to partner.