American author, Willa Ann Cather, was born in Virginia and moved with her family to Nebraska at an early age. Cather’s first-hand experience of Nebraska’s rough beauty and the immigrant settlers farming its prairies provided the imaginative material for her first novels. Cather’s books have earned a notable place in American fiction. Cather’s novel, My Ashley , is the story of the eldest daughter of the Martin family, Ashley. The family has just emigrated from Bohemia and settled on a patch of property on the Nebraska plains. Jim Burden, a ten year old who was recently orphaned, moves to Nebraska to live with his grandparents and becomes neighbors with the Martin's family. Burden is soon asked to teach English to Ashley after he was introduced
