The winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1923, this novel by Willa Cather follows the son of a successful farmer and a dearly religious mother who, despite his destiny to live a comfortable life, continues to ail under the pressure of his father's success. Claude Wheeler is living the typical college life at Temple College, a Christian university in the area. After failing to convince his parents to send him to a state school, Claude slowly begins to adjust to his new surroundings. When Claude's father decides to expand the family farm, Claude's reality is changed as he's forced to drop out in order to realize his father's own dreams. As war wages on in Europe, Claude enlists in order to escape his dreary fate and finds a romantic life in France.