Ardessa

by Willa Cather

Ardessa is a novel written by Willa Cather, first published in 1927. The story is set in the early 1900s and follows the life of a young woman named Ardessa Kirby. Ardessa is a talented musician who dreams of becoming a concert pianist, but her plans are derailed when she falls in love with a wealthy businessman named Ralph Tracy. Despite their different backgrounds and the disapproval of Ardessa's family, the two marry and begin a life together.As the years pass, Ardessa struggles to balance her artistic ambitions with her duties as a wife and mother. She becomes increasingly disillusioned with her marriage and begins to question whether she has made the right choices in life. Along the way, she encounters a number of colorful characters, including a group of bohemian artists and a charismatic musician named Pauline.Ardessa is a poignant exploration of the challenges faced by women in the early 20th century, as they tried to balance their personal aspirations with societal expectations. Cather's prose is lyrical and evocative, painting a vivid portrait of a bygone era. The novel is a timeless meditation on the nature of love, marriage, and the pursuit of artistic excellence.Despite her indolence, Ardessa was useful to O'Mally as a social reminder. She was the card catalogue of his ever-changing personal relations. O'Mally went in for everything and got tired of everything; that was why he made a good editor. After he was through with people, Ardessa was very skilful in covering his retreat. She read and answered the letters of admirers who had begun to bore him.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

48 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Wilella Sibert Cather was born in Back Creek Valley (Gore), Virginia, in December 7, 1873.

She grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She then attended the University of Nebraska, initially planning to become a physician, but after writing an article for the Nebraska State Journal, she became a regular contributor to this journal. Because of this, she changed her major and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.

After graduation in 1894, she worked in Pittsburgh as writer for various publications and as a school teacher for approximately 13 years, thereafter moving to New York City for the remainder of her life.

Her novels on frontier life brought her to national recognition. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, 'One of Ours' (1922), set during World War I. She travelled widely and often spent summers in New Brunswick, Canada. In later life, she experienced much negative criticism for her conservative politics and became reclusive, burning some of her letters and personal papers, including her last manuscript.

She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943. In 1944, Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an award given once a decade for an author's total accomplishments.

She died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 73 in New York City.

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ardessa is not the typical Cather woman, but after reading the short story, you feel empathy towards her, and hope that she overcomes her setback. Even Cather's simplest stories are amazing.