Willa Cather

My Mortal Enemy

Sarah Sammis

"My Mortal Enemy" by Willa Cather is first piece by her I've ever read. In about 20,000 words it chronicles the rise and fall of the marriage of Myra Driscoll and Oswald Henshawe from the point of view of young Nelly Birdseye who must balance the stories she heard of Myra with the truth she is painfully confronted with.

While Nelly is the narrator, Myra is the protagonist. She is introduced as an irresponsible and spoiled woman but her happy marriage ends in poverty and pain, hinging on her Catholic faith. What the novel doesn't tell us is how the marriage turned sour. We are left to guess from the few glimpses we've seen of Myra through Nelly's eyes.

My Mortal Enemy

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