My Antonia

My Antonia


By: Willa Cather
Reviewed by: History Gurl, 15
Rating: Really liked it


My Antionia, by Willa Catcher, was a touching book about a Bohemian family moving to Nebraska, meeting with a young boy named Jim. Before the story begins, Jim and a friend of his began remembering a girl named Antonia, who they had known in their early childhood. Jim begins writing My Antionia for his friend to tell her of how he had first met her.
Antonia and her family, known as the Shimerdas, live near Jim’s neighborhood in a large dirt burrow with the man who had brought the Bohemians out of the country. Jim and his family are introduced to their family, and Jim is asked to teach Antonia to speak and read English. Later on, tragedy befalls the Shimerdas, as a family member dies while the family was very poor.

Jim and his grandparents move to a town, for the country life was taking toll on the grandparent’s age. To Jim’s pleasure, Antonia is invited to live near them to become a lady, for she was “spoiled with work.” Antonia was by then well known for her hard-working and willing behavior, much to the disgust of the town women. After Antonia becomes fascinated with a dance-plaza led by gypsies, she leaves the good home to stay near-by the dance plaza. She spends much time sewing clothes for herself, and dancing with her good friend Tiny. High-school has now ended for Jim, and he is accepted at Lincoln, where he meets one of Antonia’s old friends Lena. Lena and him become good friends, and she reports to him about Jim’s success in studying to become a lawyer. Young Jim becomes occupied with Lena, who had become a well-known fashion designer, and leaves with his scholar to teach at another university.

By this time, Jim finds out that Antonia had become engaged. Jim’s heart was broken, as he himself loved Antonia. Will Jim marry Antonia, or will Antonia become married? I found this book a heartening and cute story of a young loving relationship between these two that will always thrive. It gives the reader an idea of the hardship a family takes when giving up everything to move, and living in the harsh conditions like the Shimerdas.


Recommended to: readers that love history and for true stories of friendship.