H. L. Mencken described some of Willa Cather’s writing as being the best, “ever done by a woman in America.” I would disagree. Willa Cather is one of the greatest American writers ever of any gender. I’d read her in school, but I think I was too young to appreciate just how good she was. I didn’t think about her until I asked my sister for suggestions for books to make for our grandma and she practically screamed, “Willa Cather!” She was right.
The first book I made for Grandma was Cather’s The Bohemian Girl. She would read it over and over again, and always be left with this beatific smile on her face when she closed it. All Cather’s books explore the depths of human relationships with beautiful, elegant prose that can cut like a knife or be as soothing as sunshine. Her classic 1918 short story, “Ardessa,” turns her sharp eye to the newsroom of a New York City newspaper.
Ardessa is an “older” woman whose managed to achieve a high status job as the secretary for the owner of the newspaper. She has grown comfortable in her role and mistakes her position of privilege for real power. Cather explores the sexism of the era at a time when that word didn’t even exist. But her deft handling of the subject feels as fresh and sadly relevant today as it did a century ago. Cather doesn’t need anything as dramatic as an assault to create an incredibly emotional charged story rooted in the reality of an inherently misogynistic culture.
I’m very excited to offer this timeless classic for low vision readers.
November 21, 2018 at 9:47 pm
I am so excited to find your books! I have an eye condition that makes reading difficult, and these are just what I need.