Death Comes for the Archbishop

New Mexico has passed into American hands, and two French missionary priests are sent to assume responsibility for the new diocese. Bishop Jean Marie Latour and Vicar Joseph Vaillant, friends from boyhood, arrive at a time when all travel is still by foot or on horseback and the region is undergoing great change. As they work to expand the Catholic church's influence and care for the residents, they come to understand the impact of European expansion on native groups and develop a deep respect for the people of the desert region.
Along the way they endure life-threatening adventures, from snowstorms to outbreaks of disease to the unstable politics of the time, contend with the scandalous behavior of local priests, and come to terms with the responsibilities of faith at the intersection of American colonial pressure and native resistance.
Throughout the novel, which is based loosely on historical characters, Willa Cather beautifully renders the dramatic landscapes of the Southwest, painting scenes of stark mountains, dangerous canyons, and lush secret springs that nourish the land.

Willa Sibert Cather (1873 - April 24, 1947) was an American writer who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, including O Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915) and My Ántonia (1918). In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours (1922), a novel set during World War I. Cather grew up in Virginia and Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She lived and worked in Pittsburgh for ten years, supporting herself as a magazine editor and high school English teacher. At the age of 33 she moved to New York City, her primary home for the rest of her life, though she also traveled widely and spent considerable time at her summer residence in New Brunswick, Canada.