Last weekend we took a spontaneous trip out into the hills of West Virginia to visit friends of ours who have this lovely, lovely cabin. There was lots of snow on the ground, but it wasn’t actually snowing while we were there. It was a great place to and hang out with friends.
Only after our return when I began reading a biography of Willa Cather did I realize that Cather’s Virginia roots (which I knew about) were in the town of Gore, not far from the West Virginia line and our friend’s rustic weekend retreat. We were within miles of her birthplace and didn’t know it. Next time we visit these friends I am definitely making a pilgrimage to Gore. (Actually when Cather was growing up there the town was called Back Creek but was later renamed after her aunt Sidney Gore.)
hogglestock 
Stunning pictures. Which Cather biog are you reading? I'm reading the Hermione Lee one which came out in the eighties. Love the sound of a literary pilgrimage.
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Vintage Reader: The odd thing is,even though I knew Cather was born in Virginia, it never occurred to me that their might be traces of her past there. Now I can't wait to get back out there (only about 1.5 hours away) and see her birthplace.
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Great photos – I love discovering places that are connected with authors. I used to live in a house in London that was across the road from a house once occupied by Barbara Comyns and I always thought of her books when I walked past it…. thank you for sharing, Hannah
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What a lovely cabin! Looks like a wonderful place to catch up on my reading!
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Hannah: Of course in London you can't swing a dead cat without hitting upon a former haunt of a famous author. I have never heard of Barbara Comyns, I will have to look her up.
Kathleen: It would be a great place to read, but we were having too much fun chatting and playing games.
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I've recently been reading a lot about Cather, but not directly: rather through her odd relationship with Stephen Tennant (my latest obsession to study up on). She was a sort of surrogate mother to him, odd as it may seem -talk about the odd couple! The posh, young aristocrat and the American authoress. I will never understand what their connection was other than their love of literature and the arts.
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AD: I had no idea of the Stephen Tennent connection. I am going to have to check the index of the bio I am reading to flip to those references.
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