Turned out to be well worth the stop because I found two books that very much needed a home in my collection, one of which was this copy of Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. I read the book for the first time just last August and I have pretty much been obsessed with finding my own copy ever since. This edition is in near perfect condition and was at a great price, I couldn't pass it up.
Most people associate the author with her book My Ántonia, (which I would also recommend) but I loved this story so much that I can actually say it sits right up there with Jane Eyre.
It is the story of Jean Marie Latour (based the life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy) and Joseph Vaillant, French missionaries who moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to develop the small community of Catholic people there who had been converted by the Spanish but were then left without any real leadership. Father Latour loves the Mexican people and the surrounding Indian tribes deeply and gives his whole life to their welfare, never returning to his homeland. His devotion is so simple and yet so pure and admirable. Having grown up in New Mexico, I felt a real connection with the description the author gives of the areas visited by Father Latour and the love he had for the country (the same love I have always had for the Land of Enchantment). I think it will be story that I will read again and again throughout my life.
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