Death Comes for the Archbishop

Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop is a beautiful narrative on the beginnings of westward expansion in U.S. It follows the journey and friendship of Bishop Jean Marie Latour and his vicar, Father Joseph Vaillant as they organize a new Catholic diocese in New Mexico. Though the novel lacks a strong plot line, Cather's ability to effortlessly immerse the reader into a new world with her striking imagery, practical authenticity, and brilliant storytelling, makes this book well worth the read.


Favorite passage:

[Book I - The Vicar Apostalic - Chapter IV]

“‘Where there is great love there are always miracles,' he said at length. ‘One might almost say that an apparition is human vision corrected by divine love. I do not see you as you really are, Joseph; I see you through my affection for you. The Miracles of the Church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear what is there about us always.'”