The Bridge of San Luis Rey

In eighteenth-century Peru, a historic bridge connecting the cities of Cuzco and Lima collapses, plunging five people to their deaths. A Franciscan monk, Brother Juniper, witnesses the tragedy and embarks on a spiritual quest to reconcile free will versus fate and the existence of God in the victims’ lives: “Why did this happen to those five?” This thought-provoking, Pulitzer Prize–winning second novel by American writer Thornton Wilder was called “a masterpiece” by The New York Times when it was published in 1927. Critically acclaimed, it remains a compelling literary classic exploring destiny, love, religion, and the meaning of life. literary classic; Pulitzer Prize winner; philosophical; classic novel; Historical fiction; masterpiece; Our Town; bridge collapse; accident; life and death; victims; Lima Peru; Franciscan monk; friar; chance; tragedy; spiritual; free will; fate; God; American authors; destiny; religion; faith; Act of God; divine; love