“The Song of the Lark” by Willa Cather is similar in a lot of ways to “A White Bird Flying” by Bess Streeter Aldrich. “Lark,” too, is about a young girl who grows up knowing that she has a gift and wants to develop it into everything it can and should be, in this case the talent of singing, whereas in “Bird,” the talent is writing.
Thea Kronberg is our heroine in “Lark.” The daughter of a preacher with seven children, she understands that her place is to help with the children, do her chores, and be obedient. Beyond that, a passion exists in her soul, a yearning for something greater than what she has. She can’t put a name to it or describe it with words. She doesn’t know quite what it is yet. Those closest to her, the town doctor, for one, know that there’s something special about her but they aren’t any closer to identifying it than she is. Perhaps it’s her talent for playing the piano.
Ray Kennedy, a young man who works as a train driver out of their small town of Moonstone, Colorado, takes a shine to Thea when she’s a young teenager and decides that when she’s old enough, he’ll ask her to marry him. His prospects aren’t very good right now, but by the time she’s old enough, he should have been able to pull together some money to take care of her. She’s a queen and deserves it. He watches over her, brings her small gifts, and waits for the day when it will be appropriate for him to start courting her. But before that day arrives, a horrible accident occurs, taking him from this life. He leaves Thea all he has left in the world, $600, with instructions that she is to use it to go to Chicago and study piano with a real teacher.
Thea sets off for Chicago, leaving behind everyone she loves. Dr. Archie goes with to get her settled in, but he can’t stay for long. Soon she’s on her own, living in a boarding house room and singing in a nearby church for lesson money while taking piano. After studying for a few months, her teacher discovers her singing and tells her that she should be studying voice, not piano.
This throws her into a bit of a whirlwind. Everything she thought she wanted goes out the window and she has to make some decisions. Going home for a visit, everything there seems old-fashioned. She’s outgrown it but she’s not sure where she does belong. She returns to Chicago, determined to find out if singing really is her vocation.
This book takes us on a fascinating journey into the mind and heart of an artist. It shows us the inner turmoil Thea goes through, the changes she makes while learning her craft, and her shift from farm girl to prima donna of the opera stage. Deep down, she wants to remain the same little girl, but she knows she can’t. It would be going against everything she believes.
While she is courted by several young men and could build a happy life with any of them, she decides not to marry. I found this a little disappointing (I had one all picked out for her) but her passion was devoted to her music, and any distraction would have made her less of an artist. She made the choice and had to live with it, contenting herself with friends instead.
A moving and thought-provoking book, I found much to recommend about “The Song of the Lark.”
(This book was originally published in 1915 by Houghton Mifflin.)
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