Willa Cather's best known novel; a narrative that recounts a life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert.
In 1851 Bishop Latour and his friend Father Valliant are despatched to New Mexico to reawaken its slumbering Catholicism. Moving along the endless prairies, Latour spreads his faith the only way he knows - gently, although he must contend with the unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness. Over nearly forty years, they leave converts and enemies, crosses and occasionally ecstasy in their wake. But it takes a death for them to make their mark on the landscape forever ...
'Quite simply a masterpiece ... I am completely bowled over by it ... This will be a book which I go on rereading' A. N. Wilson, TELEGRAPH
A powerful piece of writing, rich with the essence of a poor, yet beautiful country and a simple yet dignified people' Sunday Times
'A tremendous, ranging story, economical and distilled as poetry ... A lovely book' Jane Gardam
Willa Cather (1873-1947) was born in Virginia where for generations her ancestors farmed land. She became a teacher and journalist and is one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century.
Industry Reviews
'Quite simply a masterpiece ... I am completely bowled over by it ... This will be a book which I go on rereading' A. N. Wilson, TELEGRAPH *A powerful piece of writing, rich with the essence of a poor, yet beautiful country and a simple yet dignified 'A powerful piece of writing, rich with the essence of a poor but beautiful country and a simple yet dignified people' Sunday Times 'Quite simply a masterpiece ... I am completely bowled over by it; by the power of its writing, by the vividness of its secne painting and by the stories it tells ... This will be a book which I go on rereading' A. N. Wilson, Telegraph 'A tremendous, ranging story, economical and distilled as poetry ... A lovely book' Jane Gardam