The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Wilder's second book, this novel won him the first of his three Pulitzer Prizes. It opens in the aftermath of an inexplicable tragedy - a tiny footbridge in Peru breaks, and five travelers hurtle to their deaths. For humble Franciscan friar Brother Juniper who witnessed the catastrophe, the question is inescapable: Why those five? Suddenly Brother Juniper is committed to discover what manner of lives these five disparate people led - and whether it was divine intervention that took their lives, or a capricious fate.