The Bridge of San Luis Rey

When The Bridge of San Luis Rey breaks, five travellers are precipitated into the gulf below. Was it chance or the hand of God that brought these five together at that fatal time in that place? Or were they in some way responsible, themselves, for what happened? These questions are raised with uncynical compassion and answered by Wilder with an indirect affirmation of the power of love. Set in early 18th century Peru at the height of the Spanish Inquisition, this timeless story of delicately interwoven lives traverses worlds as diverse as the theatres, convents, brothels and docks of Lima, Peru to the sea-faring explorations, scientific institutions and courts of Madrid, Spain.