LOST LADY V705: Amazon.ca: Willa Cather: Books

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From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-By Willa Cather.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Published in 1923, this Cather classic depicts the encroachment of civilization that supplanted the pioneer spirit of Nebraska's frontier as seen through the eyes of protagonist Marian Forrester. This superb scholarly edition contains 21 archival photographs, a historical essay, and explanatory notes. Pricey, but it offers a lot, especially for academics.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
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4.4 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars LOST TO POSTERITY..., July 30 2009

By

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: A Lost Lady (Paperback)

This is a simply written but thematically complex, metaphoric story, replete with subtle nuances. The events that transpire are seen primarily through the eyes of a boy who comes of age, a contrivance that the author successfully employed in her best selling classic, "My Antonia". Here, it is no less successful. Through the eyes of Neil Herbert, who lives in Sweet Water, a prospective railroad hub on the Western plains in one of the prairie states, the reader gets to know Marian Forrester. She is the much younger, envied wife of one of the town's more prominent and wealthier citizens, Captain Daniel Forrester, a former railroad contractor.

As Neil grows into a man, his adoration of the lovely Mrs. Forrester undergoes a change. He sees her fall from the pedestal from where he and all the townspeople have placed her and sees her, really sees her, warts and all, for the first time, when he discovers her involved in an unexpected peccadillo. It comes as a shock to him that she may not be all that she seems to be. Still, his life is closely entwined with hers, as his uncle, with whom he lives, is Captain Forrester's personal attorney and of the same social standing in this socially circumscribed backwater.

Just as Neil's perception of Mrs. Forrester begins to change in his eyes, so do the fortunes of the town and that of Captain Forrester. As Mrs. Forrester physically deteriorates under the strain of the vicissitudes of fate, so do the town and its surrounding environs. As she revives, leaving behind her old values and adopting new ones that are anathema to those who respect the traditional ones, her revival parallels changes in the town itself, as the old makes way for the new. These changes also parallel the shifts occurring on the American frontier, as social mores and personal values undergo a change, and those stalwart pioneer values give way to new ones.

Beautifully descriptive of a bygone era and laconic in its pace, this is most certainly a novel to be savored. Fans of the author will especially enjoy it.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Not Cather's Best, July 16 2004

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Grozarks "grmissouri" (St. Louis, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Lost Lady (Paperback)

"A Lost Lady" is a good read and any experience with Willa Cather's outstanding writing is worth your time, but it's not her best story. "My Antonia" is best followed by "O' Pioneers". Start with those and then by all means read this and everything else that is Cather. She's GREAT!!

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4.0 out of 5 stars The Lost Frontier, April 9 2004

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S. Pactor "reader" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Lost Lady (Paperback)

First Cather book I've read. I was impressed, frankly and I think I'll read more.

Set in the 1880's/90's in Nebraska, this book chronicles the relationship of a young boy/man and the wife of a wealthy local luminary. As the boy turns into a man, his early admiration for the lady turns into contempt. Is this about a human relationship or rather a metaphor for the rise and decline of the plains economy in the aftermath of the railroad? Maybe both.

One interesting aspect about this book, and, I suppose, all of Cather's work, is that she is writing about a period some twenty or thirty years prior to the era when she was writing. I thought that was pretty cool. She seems like an early example of the "New Yorker" style fiction writer.

Good stuff.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars As brilliant as it is short
In the opening sentence of this short novel, Cather describes Sweet Water, the Nebraska town in which it takes place, as "so much grayer today" than it was a generation or so... Read more

Published on Aug 8 2003 by David A. Bede

5.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively Simple
Ms. Willa Cather has a way of deceiving her readers. Her novels are small simple looking stories when you begin and then you realize you are reading much more. Read more