HOUSE BROKEN ANGELS

The House of Broken Angels (Paperback)

In this big-hearted Mexican-American family epic, a burial and final birthday celebration bring together a large and complicated family. Although death plays a central part, this story is much more of a celebration of life,…

In this big-hearted Mexican-American family epic, a burial and final birthday celebration bring together a large and complicated family. Although death plays a central part, this story is much more of a celebration of life, with the best ending ever!

“All we do, mija, is love. Love is the answer. Nothing stops it. Not borders. Not death.”  

In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, affectionately called Big Angel, has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly one hundred, dies, transforming the weekend into a farewell doubleheader. Among the guests is Big Angel’s half brother, known as Little Angel, who must reckon with the truth that although he shares a father with his siblings, he has not, as a half gringo, shared a life. 

Across two bittersweet days in their San Diego neighborhood, the revelers mingle among the palm trees and cacti, celebrating the lives of Big Angel and his mother, and recounting the many inspiring tales that have passed into family lore, the acts both ordinary and heroic that brought these citizens to a fraught and sublime country and allowed them to flourish in the land they have come to call home. 

Teeming with brilliance and humor, authentic at every turn, The House of Broken Angels is Luis Alberto Urrea at his best, and cements his reputation as a storyteller of the first rank. 

“Epic . . . Rambunctious . . . Highly entertaining.” — New York Times Book Review“Intimate and touching . . . the stuff of legend.” — San Francisco Chronicle“An immensely charming and moving tale.” — Boston GlobeNational Bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award finalistA New York Times Notable BookOne of the Best Books of the Year from National Public Radio, American Library Association, San Francisco Chronicle, BookPage, Newsday, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Literary Hub

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ABOUT SARAH. Book reader, tea drinker, and animal lover. A local of the island since she was tiny, she ventured south to California for college but the northwest called her home. She is fully immersed in fantasy books and it can be hard to pull her out. Her other reading tastes include mystery, historical fiction, and YA. She collects weird fun facts, goes world traveling, solves British mystery shows, and enjoys watching Bainbridge wildlife.