Death Comes for the Archbishop

By: Willa Cather

Narrated by: David Ackroyd

From one of the most highly acclaimed novelists of the twentieth century: a truly remarkable book" (The New York Times), an epic story of a life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert. With a new introduction by Claire Messud.

In 1851 Father Jean Marie Latour comes to serve as the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. What he finds is a vast territory of red hills and tortuous arroyos, American by law but Mexican and Indian in custom and belief. In the almost forty years that follow, Latour spreads his faith in the only way he knows—gently, all the while contending with an unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness. Out of these events, Cather gives us an indelible vision of life unfolding in a place where time itself seems suspended.

Critic reviews

“A truly remarkable book . . . Soaked through and through with atmosphere . . . From the riches of her imagination and sympathy Miss Cather has distilled a very rare piece of literature. It stands out, from the very resistance it opposes to classification.” --The New York Times

"The most sensuous of writers, Willa Cather builds her imagined world as solidly as our five senses build the uiverse around us.” —Rebecca West

“[Cather’s] descriptions of the Indian mesa towns on the rock are as beautiful, as unjudging, as lucid, as her descriptions of the Bishop’s cathedral. It is an art of ‘making,’ of clear depiction—of separate objects, whose whole effect works slowly and mysteriously in the reader, and cannot be summed up. . . . Cather’s composed acceptance of mystery is a major, and rare, artistic achievement.” —from the Introduction to the Everyman's Library edition by A. S. Byatt

A beautiful story, perfectly read

I downloaded this book on a whim, but wow was it something special. This novel is written simply but very elegantly, and I was moved by the story of the colorful lives of the bishop and his faithful friend. The narration is perfect for the story--sparse, unadorned, perfectly judged. I recommend this to anyone, but especially those looking to be carried away to harder but simpler times. What a powerful counterpoint to our troubled times.

Breathtaking!

Where does Death Comes for the Archbishop rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I was blown away by the descriptions of the New Mexico sky and landscape. I wanted to jump in my car and drive to Santa Fe. I downloaded this book after reading a travel piece in the New York Times that quoted from the novel extensively and was blown away by both the descriptions of the landscape but even more so by the description of the life of early missionaries, the Mexicans and the native Americans. Highly recommend!

Beautiful from beginning to end!

Such a sweet story of devotion and friendship. The language is ethereal. Just stunning. Definitely worth reading!

Breathtakingly beautiful

I was glued to my ears, totally immersed in the beautiful language, description of landscape, and the story.
I was transported back to 17th and 18th century.

Worth a listen...especially if like SW US history

This is an amazing story with excellent narration and the reader captures well the book. Interesting throughout, both because of personal side of characters and the historical information about NM at that time and the description of Catholic piety. Well worth a listen.