Made possible by the Drue Heinz Trust

Master storyteller and Pulitzer Prize finalist Luis Alberto Urrea explores themes of love, loss, and triumph. The House of Broken Angels is a bittersweet portrait of a Mexican-American family facing the imminent death of its beloved patriarch.

Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea employs his dual-culture life experiences to great effect. The author of 17 books, he has published extensively in many genres. The Devil’s Highway, his non-fiction account of a group of Mexican immigrants lost in the Arizona desert, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His highly acclaimed historical novels. The Hummingbird’s Daughter and Queen of America tell the epic story of Teresita Urrea, a great aunt who was a healer and Mexican folk hero. His books have been chosen by nearly one hundred different cities and colleges across the country for community-wide reading programs.

In The House of Broken Angels an ailing patriarch decides to throw himself one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly one hundred years old, dies herself, leading to a farewell doubleheader.