People who thinks of Thornton Wilder primarily in terms of his classic novella “Our Town,” The Bridge of San Luis Rey will seem like quite a switch. For one thing, he has switched countries; instead of middle America, he deals here with Peru. He has switched eras, moving from the twentieth century back to the eighteenth. He has also dealt with a much broader society than he did in “Our Town,” representing the lower classes …showed first 75 words of 1520 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1520 total…memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning” (Wilder, 117). In conclusion, The Bridge of San Luis Rey is not a book to read once and then throw away; It should be kept, because the novella deftly combines the aspects of memory, loss, and love into a portrayal that you will not easily forget.