{"product_id":"bright-edges-of-the-world-willa-cather-and-her-archbishop","title":"Bright Edges of the World: Willa Cather and Her Archbishop","description":"\u003cb\u003eAuthor and historian Garrett Peck traces Willa Cather's adventures in the Southwest and how they influenced her best book.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSix months before she died, Willa Cather called her 1927 novel \u003ci\u003eDeath Comes for the Archbishop\u003c\/i\u003e her \"best book.\" \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e magazine concurred, including \u003ci\u003eArchbishop\u003c\/i\u003e on its Great American Novels list in 2024. A perennial favorite for people who love New Mexico, the novel tells an unusual story of two French priests and best friends serving on the American frontier before the arrival of the railroad. This Western work of fiction is loosely based on two historical figures, Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy and Bishop Joseph Machebeuf. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Bright Edges of the World\u003c\/i\u003e, Garrett Peck explores how Cather's travels to the Southwest inspired her writing. She visited the Southwest six times between 1912 and 1926, and from these journeys came three novels, the last of which was \u003ci\u003eDeath Comes for the Archbishop\u003c\/i\u003e. Through Cather's letters, postcards, articles, and interviews, Peck traces how integral travel was to Cather's imagination while highlighting the vital contribution that Cather's longtime partner, Edith Lewis, made to the story. \u003ci\u003eThe Bright Edges of the World \u003c\/i\u003eis richly illustrated to highlight Cather and Lewis's extensive Southwestern adventures. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThough \u003ci\u003eArchbishop\u003c\/i\u003e is a work of fiction, Peck explores how Cather wove some of the most legendary people in New Mexican history into her novel, such as Archbishop Lamy, Kit Carson, and Padre Antonio José Martínez, while subtly hinting toward the complexity of Pueblo Indian and Navajo (Diné) faith. \u003ci\u003eArchbishop\u003c\/i\u003e is a multicultural novel that reflects the diversity of New Mexico's people. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eDeath Comes for the Archbishop\u003c\/i\u003e remains a timeless book of friendship on the American frontier and an inspiration for people who, as Cather wrote, \"have gone a-journeying in New Mexico on the trail of the \u003ci\u003eArchbishop\u003c\/i\u003e.\"","brand":"Garrett Peck","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53810371985772,"sku":"9780826369253","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0912\/7985\/1884\/files\/9780826369253-us.jpg?v=1779890774","url":"https:\/\/commercestreetbooks.com\/products\/bright-edges-of-the-world-willa-cather-and-her-archbishop","provider":"Commerce Street Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}