I first heard of Antonia on what seemed to me an interminable journey across the great midland plain of North America. I was ten years old then; I had lost both my father and mother within a year, and my Virginia relatives were sending me out to my grandparents, who lived in Nebraska. I traveled in the care of a mountain boy, Jake Marpole, one of the hands on my father's old farm under the Blue Ridge, who was now going west to work for my grandfather. Jake's experience of the world was not much wider than mine. He had never been in a railway train until the morning when we set out together to try our fortunes in a new world.

I adored this book. I cannot remember why, only that I loved it. ( )

This is only the second of Willa Cather’s novels that I have read. The obvious autobiographical content about the Nebraska prairie in the 1880s, her interest in the importance and meaning of a place, and her rich nostalgia all contributed to my enjoyment of this great work. I also found it interesting that she felt the need to make the narrator male after reading about her life.
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My only complaint is the inclusion of the old ludicrous story of the wolves attacking sleighs during a winter in 19th-century Russia. I wanted to accept this as just a story that the characters might have believed then, but two of the characters have had their lives traumatized by their involvement in this fiction. Oh well, nothing is perfect. ( )

Beautifully-written reflection on childhood friendships, life on the prairie in the 1930s, and the march of life. If you want high romance, drama, or wild plot twists, look elsewhere. If you want unique characters and great descriptions, this is the place. This reader 'gets' why this is a classic.... more fulfilling than Huck Finn, e.g. (which had a horrible ending). ( )

Jeune immigrée venue de Bohême avec sa soeur et ses parents, Antonia a grandi à Black Hawk, dans le Nebraska. Mais, au lieu de la belle ferme blanche de leurs rêves, c'est une pauvre maison en terre, battue par les vents et cernée de terres ingrates, qui leur a tenu lieu de foyer.
Existence rude et pourtant joyeuse, grâce à l'affection fraternelle de Jim Burden, un orphelin de Virginie installé avec ses grands-parents dans la ferme voisine. C'est lui qui lui apprend l'anglais, l'aide à surmonter le suicide de son père. Lui encore qui la tirera d'un très mauvais pas lorsqu'elle trouvera en ville une place de gouvernante...
Des années plus tard, désormais avocat pour une grande compagnie ferroviaire, Jim se rappelle avec émotion leur jeunesse aventureuse et entreprend de ressusciter leur passé.
La jeune fille qu'il a connue, devenue femme, devient dans son regard une héroïne de la conquête de l'Ouest. ( )