<b>A portrait of an enduring friendship from one of America's most celebrated novelists.</b><b></b> <p/> Two priests are despatched from Rome to New Mexico to reinvigorate Catholicism among the locals knowing little of the challenges that await them. Over almost four decades they encounter a rich variety of people from rebellious Mexican priests to steadfast Native Americans uninterested in changing their longstanding customs. <p/><b>'Its whole effect works slowly and mysteriously ... a major and rare artistic achievement' AS Byatt</b>