A classic novel of the Plains by Willa Cather is Book Talk’s selection for its November 13 meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Donald W. Reynolds Community Center and Library.
Leading the discussion is Dr. Jane Hicks, retiree from the business school of Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
As the novel begins, John Bergson is dying and leaves his farm near small-town Hanover, Nebraska, in the charge of his beloved 16-year-old daughter Alexandra, rather than to any of his three sons. It proves a wise choice, however. Alexandra is gutsy, smart, and dedicated to the land. The book is part family epic, as the family struggles to make a living on the farm through decades of drought and other problems. Another focus is the love stories that involve Alexandra and Emil, her youngest brother, and that show how passion changes with age.
One review of the novel notes that it “faithfully conveys both the sharp physical realities and the mythic sweep of the transformation of the American frontier…and the people who settled it.”
Hicks is a native of Durant. She has worked as a CPA in Utah, a corporate director based in Colorado, an entrepreneur in California and Florida, and, most recently, taught at SOSU, her first alma mater.
She is a member of the board of the Reynolds Library. Columns she writes often appear in the Durant Democrat Weekly, The Oklahoma Observer, and the online newsletter Shield & Search.
Book Talk meets the second Thursday of most months, excepting December and summer months. The public is welcome at all Book Talk discussions. The group’s next meeting is January 8, 2026, when retired educator Phyllis Rustin will lead a discussion of “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt.
Book Talk books are available for purchase at the Reynolds Library’s service desk.
