My Mortal Enemy: Thrift

A novelist and short-story writer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather (1873-1947) is today widely regarded as one of the foremost American authors of the twentieth century. She spent her formative years in Nebraska, which at the time was a frontier territory. The pioneer spirit has influenced much of her writing; nevertheless, her departure from that world in My Mortal Enemy led to a mixed reception from critics and the general public. Although the novel was a commercial success, it sparked a heated controversy over whether Myra's "mortal enemy" was Oswald or Myra herself.