So Big by Edna Ferber

I first read this book- and many more by Ferber- back when I was a teenager, so this was a re- read,although I remembered nothing about it.

It's the story of Selena, a motherless girl raised by her gambling father, who is killed when she is in her late teens. She gets a job as a teacher in the countryside near Chicago, and  becomes a successful vegetable farmer after her husband dies. The novel's title is the nickname of her son Dirk DeJong, who despite his mother's best efforts becomes part of the establishment on Chicago.

Selena is a very strong character and the book is well-written. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1920.