Five people fall to their deaths when a bridge collapses over a river in Peru. Can Brother Juniper discover the reason that these five individuals had to die?

Exploring themes of love, goodness, and predestination, Wilder exposes the nature of his characters by examining their relationships. The bonds of parents and children, siblings, and surrogate parents are all examined with elegant skill, leading us to ask the hard questions that point to the inevitable river below.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1928.