Willa Cather’s 1923 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is One of Ours.
Published in 1922, the novel follows Claude Wheeler, a Nebraska farm boy who feels alienated from his family, marriage, and rural life. His outlook changes when the United States enters World War I and he joins the army.
The first half focuses on Claude’s dissatisfaction and relationships in Nebraska. The second half follows his military service and experiences in France. Cather drew partly on the wartime letters of her cousin G.P. Cather, who was killed in the conflict.
Readers sometimes mistake My Ántonia for Cather’s Pulitzer winner because it is her best-known novel, but it did not win the prize. One of Ours earned the 1923 award, making Cather the second woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.