Book of the Week

When a good friend of mine turned thirty, he went back and started reading, as he puts it, “all those books you were supposed to read in high school but never did.” Among those dreaded authors, in days gone by, was Willa Cather. Maybe you had to read My Antonia or O Pioneers. But did you ever read Death Comes for the Archbishop?

It’s a short book, probably 250-300 pages, if I recall correctly. It’s the story of Father LaTour, a French priest who comes to America as a missionary and works in nineteenth century New Mexico for almost forty years. Without getting too much into the plot, I have to say the best thing about the book is his pureness of heart and his essential goodness, despite the many hardships he faces in trying to establish a diocese in the Southwest while it was still frontier territory.

I think you might enjoy this one. Give it a try! I read it twenty years ago and I’ve never forgotten it!