416Z Winter 2026 Willa Cather’s Shadows on the Rock

The year after the success of Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather visited Quebec for the first time and found inspiration for her next novel, Shadows on the Rock, which was written between 1928-1930 and published in 1931.Set in 17th century Quebec, the novel is part historical fiction and part impressionist painting. Covering one year in the lives of Euclid Auclair, an apothecary, his 12-year-old daughter, Cecile, and the colorful citizens of Quebec with whom they interact, the novel examines the importance of culture, tradition, religion, loyalty, faith, love, and friendship. If Quebec is the rock of the title, then the shadows are the souls of the ordinary people who live in the New World but want to preserve the best of the Old World and whose ordinary lives have meaning. There are nearly 30 “insert” stories that capture the connectedness among the Quebecois individuals, families, and the political and religious elite. This is a beautifully written tribute to a timeless rock. 

Jane Fitzgibbons retired from the federal government in 2020.During her government career, she headed training and communications departments. She has an MS in National Security Strategy from the National War College and an MA in Politics and Literature from the University of Dallas where her admiration for the works of Willa Cather began, which led her to a forum at the University of Nebraska on the centenary of Ms. Cather’s birth. She attended two Willa Cather conferences in 2023: one honoring Willa Cather’s sesquicentennial birthday and one focusing on Ms. Cather’s literary life in New York City.