Our second-to-the-last story for the Willa Cather Short Story Project is “Uncle Valentine,” published in Woman’s Home Companion in 1925.

“Uncle Valentine” is still under copyright, so it is currently unavailable via the Willa Cather Archive. You can find it in print in The Pittsburgh Stories of Willa Cather, ed. by Peter Oresick (Carnegie Mellon UP, 2016) or Uncle Valentine and Other Stories: Willa Cather’s Uncollected Short Fiction, 1915-1929, ed. by Bernice Slote (U of Nebraska Press, 1973).

“Uncle Valentine” and next month’s story, “Double Birthday,” both have Pittsburgh connections. Ending this reading challenge with two stories set in Pittsburgh is a bit of a surprise. Of the places Cather lived, Pittsburgh is probably the least associated with her name. However, Cather lived in Steel City for ten years, and seven of her short stories, including her much-anthologized “Paul’s Case,” have Pittsburgh connections. Oresick quotes Cather in his introduction, “Pittsburgh was even more vital, more creative, more hungry for culture than New York. Pittsburgh was the birthplace of my writing” (14). Unfortunately, he doesn’t provide a source for this quote. I’m so curious about the context.

According to Oresick, “Uncle Valentine” was inspired by Cather’s Pittsburgh friend, the composer and pianist Ethelbert Nevin (1862-1901). The story is “the retelling of a complex and tragic family scandal by Valentine’s niece, including an extramarital affair, class tensions, extravagant international travel, and once again, the quest for an artistic life” (13). Sounds like we’re in for a ride! Nevin was also the inspiration for a character in “A Death in the Desert,” which we read back in 2019.

What’s next

Read “Uncle Valentine” sometime this month, then come back to discuss it in the response post I’ll share on July 24th. Or, feel free to read it now and comment here if you can’t wait until then!

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New to this blog? Learn more about the Willa Cather Short Story Project here. In a nutshell, we read one Cather short story a month. I remind everyone what story we’re reading on the second Wednesday of the month and then share a response on the fourth Wednesday. Jump in anytime!