In 1902, Cather traveled to Europe. In 1903, she published her first book of poems, April Twilight. Critics largely dismissed the volume, and Cather subsequently abandoned the form to fiction. Having already published the short story "Peter" as a college student@ — a short story that would later be integrated into the celebrated novel My Ántonia@ — Cather continued to refine her fiction while teaching high school in Pittsburgh.
In 1905, she published the short-story collection, The Troll Garden, which features her celebrated and much-anthologized story "Paul's Case." She joined the staff at McClure's magazine in 1906, remaining with them until 1912, the year she published her first novel, Alexander's Bridge. The novel was recognized as an attempt to mimic the style and themes of novelist Henry James. The following year, she published O Pioneers!, which prompted critical recognition of Cather as a fiction writer of merit. The novel relates the story of Alexandra Bergson, the daughter of Swedish immigrants, who sacrifices her personal desires in order to save her parents' farm following their deaths. The novel also tells the story of Alexandra's brother Emil, who conducts an affair with a married woman, resulting in the deaths of Emil and his lover. Alexandra's hard work and dedication, on the other hand, result in her meeting and falling in love with an honorable man.
