Cather - Complete Works of Willa Cather

The Complete Works of

WILLA CATHER

(1873-1947)

Contents

Delphi Classics 2019

Version 1

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The Complete Works of

WILLA CATHER

with introductions by Gill Rossini
www.gillrossini.com

By Delphi Classics, 2019

Complete Works of Willa Cather

First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Delphi Classics.

Delphi Classics, 2019.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78877 990 6

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The Willa Cather Birthplace, Rachel E. Boak House, a nineteenth-century residence near Gore in Frederick County, Virginia

A plaque commemorating Cathers birthplace

Published in 1912 in America by the Houghton Mifflin Company and in London by William Heinemann, Alexanders Bridge is Cathers first novel. It was a relatively late debut into novel writing as Cather was thirty-nine years old at the time, but her writing career had begun as an undergraduate at the University of Nebraska, when she published an article about Thomas Carlyle in the Nebraska State Journal . The novel also ran as a serial in McClures, with the title Alexanders Masquerade, giving Cather some free time from her work for that magazine. Subsequently, Cather was to dismiss the work as imitative of Edith Wharton and Henry James, a comment rather typical of her strong self critique, but on publication the novel was almost universally well received; it has since been suggested that it is indeed imperfect, but that is to be expected for most first novels, even from a writer later regarded as eminent.

The story is based partly on a real event the collapse of the Quebec Bridge in 1907, a project that had been beset with problems from the start. The incident caused the deaths of 75 workers that were on the bridge at the time of the collapse. However, Cather was always clear that the story of bridge building was never the central point of the narrative the builder of the bridges takes centre stage. It is thought that the character of Hilda Burgoyne was based on the comedy actress Maire ONeill, whom Cather saw in Playboy of the Western World in London in 1909. It has also been suggested that J. M. Barrie was one of the inspirations for the playwright McConnell, Alexanders rival in the story for Hildas affections.

The story opens with the arrival of Professor Wilson in Boston. It is a trip heavy with nostalgia, as this is where the academic spent his student days. His destination in the city is the home of the Alexanders his friend and former pupil Bartley Alexander has invited him to attend a Congress of Psychologists. He is delighted to be greeted by Mrs Winifred Alexander, a tall and striking woman, the wife of his friend and as they take tea together; it is clear that there is an instant rapport between them. He is puzzled, however, by her assertion that she finds her husband something of an enigma and that his youth is a mystery to her, despite the anecdotes she has heard. We meet Alexander when he returns to the house, a big manwith a quick, heavy tread, bringing with him a smell of cigar smoke and chill out-of-doors air, a man who, according to his wife, who lives life only for the fiery moment. This tall, vigorous engineer looks strong enough to build one of his famous bridges single handed. Later, the two men chat about the new bridge Alexander is building in Canada and about Alexanders forthcoming trip to England, to meet with some British engineers, but Wilson is worried by an unease he notes in his friend, a sign of some weariness that he at first puts down to the dulling weariness of on-coming middle age.