A Lost Lady

A Lost Lady Willa Cather Willa Cather's A Lost Lady was first published in 1923. It tells the story of Marian Forrester and her husband, Captain Daniel Forrester who live in the Western town of Sweet Water, along the Transcontinental Railroad. The novel is written in the third person, but is mostly written from the perspective of Niel Herbert, a young man who grows up in Sweet Water and witnesses the decline of Mrs. Forrester, for whom he feels very deeply, and also of the West itself from the idealized age of noble pioneers to the age of capitalist exploitation. Mrs. Marian Forrester: The wife of Captain Forrester, she is a small town aristocrat. Niel falls in love with what she represents, and is dismayed to discover that she has a lover, Frank Ellinger. After her husband's death she allows Ivy Peters to run her estate. She eventually leaves the town and marries an Englishman, dying before Niel ever sees her again. Captain Daniel Forrester: A strong man who made his fortune building track for the railroads in the old pioneering days. He is proud of his beautiful wife. The novel opens at a time when he has already been physically destroyed by a fall from a horse. After suffering two strokes he eventually dies, signifying the end of the pioneering era. Niel Herbert: The main character, Niel is a young boy when he meets Mrs. Forrester. He falls in love with what she represents and struggles to preserve his boyhood image of her. After watching her first have an affair with Frank Ellinger and later Ivy Peters, he finally gives up on her. Niel realizes by the end of the novel that his perception of Mrs. Forrester is based on the Captain's influence over her.