O’Pioneers
Willa Cather
Houghton Mifflin, 1913

O’Pioneers is the story of immigrant pioneers in Nebraska around the turn of the twentieth century. The Bergson family, along with most of their neighbors, are Swedish immigrants who have never farmed before. Most of them are failing, but John Bergson, on his death bed, declares his wish that his daughter Alexandra be the one in charge of the farm over her two older brothers. John extracts a promise from Alexandra that she not leave the farm. John understands the intelligence, skill and foresight of his daughter. He knows she has what it takes to make the farm successful.

John Bergson was right. Even though other farms fail, Alexandra succeeds. She convinces her brothers to  mortgage part of the farm in order to buy up other properties. They work hard and work smart even during the hard times until the mortgages are paid off. However, her two older brothers are continuously at odds with her and eventually the farm is divided into three sections.

Although this is a classic book by a classic author, at times it feels like a soap opera. In addition to the tale of building up the farm, it’s also the story of two romances. One is between Alexandra and her friend Carl. The other is that of Emil (the youngest brother) and a young woman in an unhappy marriage. There are also lots of assorted characters who come in and out of the story.

The book deals with issues that must have surprised many people at the time of it’s writing. There is, of course, the story of a strong woman doing so well in spite of the counsel given her by her brothers and other men of the day. I enjoyed the concept of the different character traits of those who stayed on the farm and those who went to the cities and other countries. Although Alexandra is  happy on the farm, she wishes her younger brother could go away and not become like the older brothers. Her friend Carl, who has been away, believes he has achieved nothing of value by not being on the land.

I enjoyed the book. It was fun to step back in time and think through the issues of that day. I read this book for the Decades ’09 Challenge for the 1910′s.

This unique challenge works like this: Between January 1st and December 31st the reader picks nine books written during each of nine consecutive decades. Here are the decades I’ve chosen and their books:

1900′s – The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit

1910′s – O Pioneers by Willa Cather

1920′s – Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

1930′s – The Good Earth by Pearl Buck

1940′s – The Long Winter by Laura Ingles Wilder

1950′s – The Way West by A.B. Guthrie

1960′s – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

1970′s – The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison

1980′s – A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

It’s taken me a while to decide on my list but now that I have I’m pleased with it. There are a couple of old favorites on there and several I’ve been wanting to read for quite some time. I’m truly looking forward to it. If you’d like to join the challenge, head on over to 1 More Chapter. If you’d like to join in with me on reading these books, let me know. Either way, happy reading.