Morte D'Urban

Winner of the 1963 National Book Award, Morte D'Urban is a darkly comic and deeply perceptive novel about faith, ambition, and spiritual disillusionment in mid-20th-century America. The story centers on Father Urban Roche, a charismatic and pragmatic priest in the fictional Clementine order, who has long dreamed of making a greater impact within the Church.

Assigned from the vibrant Chicago scene to a sleepy retreat house in Minnesota, Father Urban finds himself navigating small-town politics, ineffectual superiors, and the challenges of mediocrity. Yet through wit, diplomacy, and genuine charm, he begins to reshape the struggling mission—only to find that success in the worldly sense may come at a spiritual cost.

J.F. Powers, renowned for his understated prose and satirical eye, presents a novel that is both humorous and quietly profound. Morte D'Urban is a study in contradictions—sacred and secular, worldly and devout—and a brilliant portrait of a man torn between his calling and his ambition.