Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder

In the aftermath of the I-35 bridge failure in Minnesota, Kathy Sale recommended The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, a novel about a bridge collapse in 18th century Peru. I just finished it and highly recommend it. The book traces the story of the five persons killed, and asks why these five--were they better persons than others? Worse? Were they needed by society less than others? They each had weathered a crisis in their lives and had come to a resolution, but died before being able to begin anew. Wilder's prose is lyrical and imaginative. It's a great short novel that still speaks to our times.