O Pioneers! is centered around the Bergson family (who have one daughter and three sons) and takes place in Nebraska. One of the Bergson son's daughters marries a clergy man and moves with him to Moonstone, Colorado and raises their family there (this all happens between the end of O Pioneers! and the start of The Song of the Lark). One of the daughters of that Colorado/preacher's family, Thea Kronborg, is the main character in The Song of the Lark. The original characters/family from O Pioneers are barely mentioned and not a part of the second book, but the history of the family is there in subtext.
The book's title (The Song of the Lark) comes from a painting at The Art Institute of Chicago. The art museum and the specific painting are mentioned in the book. I remembered the painting as soon as I saw it. I spent a lot of time at The Art Institute the year ME was with us. Her law firm was in Chicago. While she was meeting with her lawyers, I would spend lovely afternoons at the museum. I think I covered the entire museum, every single piece, that year.
Very interestingly, although O Pioneers! and My Antonia (books 1 and 3 in the trilogy) are listed in Sparknotes, The Song of the Lark is not. It should be (in my opinion).
I am not linking to the Wiki notes, because they give away too much of the plot of the book (in my opinion).
When I started this book, I was a little nervous it was going to be a daddy thing nearly bordering on a pedophile thing. Because older men gravitate toward Thea in this book. It starts right at the beginning of the book when she is 10-12 years old.
There is a 30 year old who is waiting for her to grow up so he can ask her to marry him (for example). But he IS waiting until she is 18-20. So it isn't actually a pedophile thing. It is more the type of thing that happened back then when families thought of those men as settled and reliable and able to provide for a family. And in this book, Thea's mother, does not approve of this man's plan anyway.
At various points in the book the characters even discuss how older men gravitate toward her. It is actually part of the plot. There is nothing icky about it. It is part of the character development. I just happened to pick up on it right when the book started. It is a subject that raises my hackles.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. (If you loved the Little House series, I suspect you might love this series too.)
And as soon as I finished this second one, I went right into the third in the trilogy, which is Willa Cather's most famous - My Antonia.
