So Big

The Pulitzer Prize–winning masterwork from one of the twentieth century’s most accomplished and admired writers, Edna Ferber’s So Big is the unforgettable story of one woman’s struggle to stay afloat and maintain her dignity in the face of monumental challenges.Set in Chicago at the turn of the twentieth century, So Big tells the story of Selina Peake, orphaned at nineteen after her father is shot and killed in a gambling house. Alone and resolved to make something of her life, Selina gets a job as a schoolteacher in a farming community outside Chicago and falls in love with a kind but struggling farmer. She soon leaves the schoolhouse for long grueling days in the fields and gives birth to a son, Dirk, nicknamed “So Big.” When she finds herself unexpectedly widowed, she takes the reins of the farm, defying convention and all those around her, determined to give Dirk every opportunity to follow his dreams.A powerful story and stirring portrait of one of the most memorable women in American literature, So Big still resonates today with its unflinching views of poverty, sexism, and the drive for success.