A review by christinel
The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather

4.0

Though published in 1915, this book still seems so relevant. It tells the story of a young girl growing up in a small town in the west (Wyoming?), with a talent for music, and her eventual success as an opera singer. The settings are well drawn, and one can clearly picture the western town, with its humble buildings but natural beauty, and the more luxuriant surroundings she finds herself in later. There is an amazing interlude in which she takes a kind of artistic retreat to gather her energies while exploring the abandoned canyon dwellings of the southwestern Indians. The primary relationships in the book are between the heroine and her family, and then between the heroine and a series of men who recognize her talent and drive and help her to develop as a singer. In that time, she really had to choose between a conventional life in which she didn't get to develop her talent and an unconventional life in which she did, but had to give up a certain amount of her connection and community to do so. There's still a lot that I recognize in those choices. I loved the unconventional relationships that she had with men - some sexual, but many not, and I wish that more books would show these kind of mentor relationships as important emotionally.