Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (Annotated)

Willa Cather published the novel "Death Comes for Archbishop" in 1927. It's not really a standalone tale but a stylized retelling of the life of two late 19th century figures, Jean Baptiste Lemy and Joseph Projectus Machebbeuf, who were Roman Catholic clergy in New Mexico in the 1920s. The narrative is told in omniscient third person and includes snooping in on stories about the pair and their recollecties.

The novel begins with an Irish Bishop in the New World named bishop Ferrand suggesting Jean - Marie LatOUR as Bishop of the newly created New Mexico diocese. Bishop Latour and his viar Joseph Vaillant travel from Ohio to new Mexico and also recount their entire year - long journey and their journey in the New territory.

The approaches to faith and life of Vaillante and Latour are compared. Vaillant is fearless and actively advocates faith, while Latour is more reticent and intellectual. The characters confront different hurdles, like navigating the established clergy in New Mexico, several of whom are depictes as egregious in their greed along with other vices.

Cather sympathetically depicts the Pueblos, Hopi and Navajo indigenous peoples, and discusses the Long Walk of the Navajo. The novel concludes with the passing of Archbishop Latour after Vaillant is chosen the very first Bishop of Colorado in Santa Fe.
Literaryly significant, "Death Comes for Archbishop" has been included in numerous best selling lists and has long been praised because of its depiction of religious faith as well as social bonds in a developing democratic political order.