An unnamed narrator encounters a childhood friend, Jim Burden, on a train crossing Iowa during the summertime. They recall growing up in the same prairie town in Nebraska in which the natural world created a distinctive experience. Although the narrator and Jim now reside in New York, they seldom see each other: Jim is often away on business as the legal counsel for a Western railroad, and the narrator dislikes Jim’s wife. Despite Jim’s disappointing marriage, his “romantic disposition” (x) is unchanged—he loves the country and has played an important role in its development.

Both friends affectionately remember a Bohemian girl, Ántonia, who represents the conditions of their Nebraskan childhood. Jim has recently renewed a friendship with Ántonia and has begun writing his memories about her. The narrator asks to read Jim’s account, and months later, Jim brings the finished recollections, titled “Ántonia,” to the narrator. However, before Jim hands it over, he adds another word to the title, making it “My Ántonia.”

When Jim Burden’s parents both die within a year, Jim’s relatives in Virginia send the 10-year-old boy to live with his grandparents in Nebraska. On his train ride across the American plains, Jim travels in the care of Jake Marpole, a teenaged farmhand.