GENERAL & LITERARY FICTION. First published in 1930 and shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize, The Great Meadow is a historical novel set in the early days of Kentucky settlement. Intertwined with a flowing romantic saga of young love on the Kentucky trail, are richly painted scenes colonial America. Diony Hall has waited for many years for her betrothed to return to marry her. Trying to fathom the nature of identity and her place in the vast newly created America, Diony spends her time at the family hearthside, combining her love of reading with her roles within the family circle and the daily tasks on the homestead.