Fiction / Historical
297 Pages
5 Stars
This is my second time reading about the Archbishop. The first time was several years ago, and I loved the book then. If possible, I love it more, now, for I have moved to New Mexico, and know, or know of, many of the places mentioned in her book.
Cather based her fictional Bishop, Jean Marie Latour, on the real-life Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, who became the first Archbishop of Santa Fe, NM. I wish I had known that earlier. A third time might be in order.
This is a gently paced and peaceful book. It shows life as it was lived in the times, including how slow and painstaking travel was. Bishop Latour was a peaceful man, who sought to understand the local Mexicans as well as the indigenous peoples. He understood the indigenous peoples were not Europeans, that they had their own histories and cultures. One of his best friends was an old Navajo.
Cather's descriptions are wonderful, both of place and of person, and though this is a slow-paced book, it is not lazy, and the story moves at a comfortable speed. She uses words to paint a gorgeous landscape with fascinating people. I have read it twice and will read it again.
Entering the World of Willa Cather's Archbishop https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/travel/26Footsteps.html
Jean Baptiste Lamy (1814-1888) http://newmexicohistory.org/people/jean-baptiste-lamy
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