Purgatoire - Paperback

by Liz Prato (Author)

In 1910 Sabé Parella makes the journey from northern Italy to southern Colorado to join her husband who had gone ahead to work in the coal mines. But when Sabé arrives along the banks of the Purgatoire River, he is nowhere to be found.

Based on Prato's ancestors, Purgatoire paints a gripping portrait of Italian immigrants in rural America, and how the shame and secrecy of one man's abandonment haunts a family for generations. A single mother fights to reunite with her children, an immortal cat yearns for kin, a bootlegger's recklessness devastates his family, queer folk escape to secret spaces, and stranded spirits narrate, converse, and sometimes violate the laws of their realm: they interfere with the fate of the living.

Melding familial research with richly imagined fiction, Prato weaves a mesmerizing story of the complex relationships between parents and children, the transcendent need for connection and redemption, and what we owe to our true desires.

Author Biography

Liz Prato's previous books include Kids in America: A Gen X Reckoning, Volcanoes, Palm Trees, and Privilege: Essays on Hawai'i, a New York Times Top Summer Read and a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, and Baby's on Fire: Stories. She is a freelance developmental editor and teacher. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Liz now resides in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, a bookseller and author, and their furry feline friends. She lives for independent bookstores, literary community, and palm trees.