A Lost Lady

First published in 1923, ‘A Lost Lady’ was written by Willa Cather, an American novelist and Pulitzer-prize winner.
It is the story of the charming and mystifying Marian Forrester and her life in the Western American town of Sweet Water. The novel is narrated from the stance of her young neighbor, Niel Herbert. He starts by recalling the early days when Marian was a young, noble bride just arrived in the prairie town and was adored by her pioneering husband, Captain Daniel Forrester.
Niel joins in the admiration of his captivating more aged neighbor. However, the days of positiveness for Niel and the town of Sweet Water give way to a more melancholic and dulled time. Marian is not the quintessential woman that her husband and Niel have visualized her to be. Niel understands that things are seldom as uncomplicated as they seem in this timeless novel.

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.