the bridge of san luis rey by thornton wilder

Brother Juniper has just come into view of the woven rope bridge over a river gorge between Lima and Cuzco when the bridge collapses, sending five people on the bridge to their death.

That is the premise of this Thornton Wilder story, which launched his literary career, winning him a Pulitzer Prize in fiction, and creating the opportunity for him to live a life of teaching and writing. In the end we are left with uncertainty–none of these rationalizations satisfy or comfort and most explanations seem cruel or trite. We try to find some reason to explain why the death or deaths occurred, often some version of “it was God’s time,” or “they were too good for earth,” or that there was some sinful reason why they died. It’s the unanswerable question we struggle with in every untimely death. Summary: A friar witnesses the collapse of a woven rope bridge with five people falling to their deaths and tries to discern some reason why, in God’s providence, each of them died.

New York: Harper Perennial, 2015 (originally published in 1927). The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder with Foreword by Russell Banks, Afterword by Tappan Wilder.

The bridge of san luis rey by thornton wilder