The Song of the Lark

'She is undoubtedly one of the greatest American writers' OBSERVER

'The time will come when she will be ranked above Hemingway' LEON EDEL

'The Song of the Lark illuminates all her work' A. S. BYATT

Thea Kronborg is born into poverty in a small desert town in the American Midwest. One of seven children, she is somehow set apart, a fact recognised by the discerning few, including Ray Kennedy who longs to marry her, but whose fate it is to set her free.

With her rugged will and pioneer spirit, Thea carves her way from Moonstone, Colorado, to windy Chicago, from Dresden to New York and a triumphant debut at the Metropolitan Opera. She becomes a great opera singer but learns that as a true artist, she must make the most bitter sacrifices of all . . .

In prose as shimmering and piercingly true as the light in a desert canyon, Cather takes us into the heart of a woman coming to know her deepest self.