I finished reading The Song of the Lark (1915) by Willa Cather. It’s a coming of age story and follows Thea, a young girl born and raised in a small town near the sand dunes of Colorado in the last decade of the 19th century.

I loved the first half or so of the novel, while Thea is growing up and living at home with her family. The surrounding characters are interesting and well-imagined. Thea pursues piano with a local teacher, a German immigrant who is passionate about music and art.

At certain points in the latter half of the book, when Thea leaves home to study and make her way in the world, I wearied of descriptions of artists as rarified creatures inhabitating a world mere mortals could never hope to perceive. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but does reflect a part of my reaction.

Cather writes beautiful prose with frequent poignant reflections. She captures the beauty of the physical world and skillfully builds the interior world of Thea as a child.

You begin to feel what the human race has been up against from the beginning.