The Song of the Lark

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The Song of the Lark

Special edition, A Bison Classic Edition

Willa Cather

Bison Classic Editions Series

550 pages

Paperback

June 2013

978-0-8032-4572-3

$23.95 Add to Cart
eBook (EPUB)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

May 2020

978-1-4962-1146-0

$23.95 Add to Cart
eBook (PDF)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

June 2013

978-0-8032-4980-6

$23.95 Add to Cart

About the Book

Willa Cather’s third novel, The Song of the Lark, depicts the growth of an artist, singer Thea Kronborg, a character inspired by the Swedish-born immigrant and renowned Wagnerian soprano Olive Fremstad. Thea’s early life, however, has much in common with Cather’s own.

Set from 1885 to 1909, the novel traces Thea’s long journey from her fictional hometown of Moonstone, Colorado, to her source of inspiration in the Southwest, and to New York and the Metropolitan Opera House. As she makes her way in the world from an unlikely background, Thea distills all her experiences and relationships into the power and passion of her singing, despite the cost. The Song of the Lark presents Cather’s vision of a true artist.

Author Bio

Willa Cather (1873–1947) was born in Virginia; her family moved to Nebraska in 1883 and eventually settled in Red Cloud. After graduating from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1895, she returned to Red Cloud briefly before moving east to work on Home Monthly and eventually McClure’s. Her first published books were the poetry collection April Twilights and the short-story collection The Troll Garden. The Song of the Lark is part of Cather’s Prairie Trilogy, which includes O Pioneers! and My Ántonia, all available in Bison Books editions. In 1923 Cather received the Pulitzer Prize for her novel One of Ours.

Praise

"This authoritative edition of Cather's perhaps least understood novel is a welcome addition to the Willa Cather Scholarly Edition, begun under the general editorship of Susan Rosowski and now under that of Guy Reynolds. The Song of the Lark is important for taking the portraits of European immigrants in the US in O Pioneers! and adding the element of art as it traces the evolution of Thea Kronborg from small-town girl to opera singer acclaimed in Chicago, New York, and Europe. . . . Embellished with handsome photographs and presented in an easy-to-read format, this is a necessary edition for any scholar of Cather."—N. Birns, Choice


Table of Contents

Part I - Friends of Childhood
Part II - The Song of the Lark
Part III - Stupid Faces
Part IV - The Ancient People
Part V - Dr. Archie's Venture
Part VI - Kronborg
Epilogue

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