Review of \u3ci\u3eWilla Cather\u27s Transforming Vision: New France and the American Northeast\u3c/i\u3e By Gary Brienzo

Using a fine-tuned blend of textual criticism, biography, and primary research, Gary Brienzo sheds light on the importance of the American Northeast and New France on Willa Cather\u27s life and art. Brienzo sees Cather\u27s artistic life as a search for a quiet center, a unified, comforting vision, given focus by an appreciation she developed for the domestic qualities that enhanced life. He credits Sarah Orne Jewett for providing Cather this alternative literary tradition, which celebrated woman-centered communities and the power of domestic ritual. Brienzo details Cather\u27s discovery of Quebec and the appeal of its French traditions, for there she recognized manifestations of domestic artistry and the balanced order from the city\u27s historical and religious legacy