So Big

So Big is a novel written by Edna Ferber and published in 1924. It was a best-seller in the United States and won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1925.

So Big refers to the affectionate nickname that Selina Peake gave her son Dirk. She, very proud of him, constantly asked him "How big is my boy?" This woman, Selina, is the protagonist of this novel. She is a character full of strength and determination, and she shows at the same time an extraordinary sensitivity and depth of feeling.

Selina is a young girl who, after the death of her father, will settle in a farming community of Dutch origin, near Chicago.

She decides to work in the field, despite the fact that at the time it was something far removed from women, and she will sacrifice her dreams so that her son can have everything in life that she did not have.

The protagonist clearly reflects the author's feminist ideas in the early years of the 20th century.

"Until he was almost ten the name stuck to him. He had literally to fight his way free of it. From So Big (of fond and infantile derivation) it had been condensed into Sobig..."