Lucy Gayheart (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Willa Cather
- First Published: 1935
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: Christmas, 1901, to Christmas, 1902, and 1927
- Setting: Haverford, Nebraska, and Chicago, Illinois
- Principal Characters: Lucy Gayheart, Harry Gordon, Pauline Gayheart, Jacob Gayheart, Clement Sebastian, Paul Auerbach
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Love or romance, Midwest, Chicago, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, Accidents, Singing or singers, Pianos or pianists, Nebraska
- Locales: Chicago, IL, Nebraska, Haverford, NE
The Novel
Lucy Gayheart is equally a study of the central character and of the effect that she has on others. The novel opens twenty-five years after Lucy’s death, when her memory is still fondly cherished by the residents of her small hometown: “In Haverford on the Platte the townspeople still talk of Lucy Gayheart. They do not talk of her a great deal, to be sure; life goes on and we live in the present.” This retrospective point of view provides the counterpoint to the dominant point of view in the novel, Lucy’s. Most of the novel takes place during the year...
[The entire page is 2473 words long]
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