About two weeks ago columnist Bret Stephens recommended reading My Antonia by Willa Cather. He said it was the perfect antidote to Trump. I have visited Red Cloud, Nebraska, Willa Cather’s home town, and I read some of her short stories and a novel, but I had never read My Antonia, her most famous book. The Palmerton Library had a copy, and I just finished it.
Antonia (An-ton-ee-ah, with the accent on the first syllable) is the eldest daughter of an immigrant Bohemian (now Czech) family. Her English remained poor all her life. She was one among many Nebraska immigrants, including Danish and Norwegian families. When her parents came to America, they had to pay a 50¢ tax (now about $12) and not be convicts, lunatics, or idiots.
When you hear people say, “my ancestors came to America legally,” if they came when Antonia’s father came, they had a low bar. If they came when my ancestors arrived, they could even be idiots!!!
Cather’s book is a work of fiction, of course, but it gets across how the people of that area lived and worked together, attended each other’s funerals, and built a community.
I’m pretty sure the book is still in print. If not, visit your library.
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