Willa Cathers twelfth and final novel Sapphira and the Slave Girl is hermost intense fictional engagement with political and personal conflict. Set inCathers Vi... » 

Willa Cathers twelfth and final novel Sapphira and the Slave Girl is hermost intense fictional engagement with political and personal conflict. Set inCathers Virginia birthplace in 1856 the novel draws on family and localhistory and the escalating conflicts of the last years of slavery?conflicts inwhich Cathers family members were deeply involved both as slave owners and asopponents of slavery. Cather at five years old appears as a character in anunprecedented firstperson epilogue. Tapping her earliest memories Catherpowerfully and sparely renders a Virginia world that is simultaneouslybeautiful and as she said ?terrible.? The historical essay and explanatorynotes explore the novels grounding in family local and national historyshow how southern cultures continually shaped Cathers life and workculminating with this novel and trace the progress of Cathers research andcomposition during years of grief and loss that she described as the worst ofher life. More early drafts including manuscript fragments are available forSapphira and the Slave Girl than for any other Cather novel and therevealing textual essay draws on this rich resource to provide new insightsinto Cathers composition process. «