This is a light and easy read, but certainly not up to standards as O Pioneers! or My Antonia. The characters were not developed in depth and I didn't have emotional connection to Bartley by the end. I'm not sure if I truly understood his character. Perhaps if the story was longer, and there was actual conflict between Bartley and Winifred, some stronger characters would have been created. More time was spent on the relationship between Barley and Hilda, and their relationship seemed far simpler that his marriage. I didn't feel the truth in this story like I did with other Cather's novels.
All in all, an underdeveloped story. Read if you are a diehard Cather fan, but otherwise, you are not missing much by skipping it.