'The House of Broken Angels' by Luis Alberto Urrea is a poignant and heartwarming novel centered around Big Angel, the patriarch of a large Mexican American family, who is terminally ill and decides to host one last birthday party. The book delves into the history of the family, their migration from Mexico to San Diego, and the complex dynamics among the family members. The narrative combines tragedy and humor, exploring themes of love, loss, and the impact of the current political climate on the family.
The storytelling style of the book involves rich character development and intricate family relationships, with a mix of flashbacks and present-day scenes. The author, Luis Alberto Urrea, weaves together a multi-generational saga that unfolds mostly within a single day, offering a glimpse into the relentless nature of life amidst the looming presence of death. The novel captures the essence of family bonds, individual struggles, and the bittersweet moments that shape the De La Cruz family's journey.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of terminal illness, death, family dysfunction, immigration struggles, and possible references to drug-related issues.
Has Romance?
There are elements of romance interwoven into the narrative, primarily through the relationships of Big Angel with his wife Perla and others, though it is not the central focus of the story.
From The Publisher:
In this "raucous, moving, and necessary" story by a Pulitzer Prize finalist (San Francisco Chronicle), the De La Cruzes, a family on the Mexican-American border, celebrate two of their most beloved relatives during a joyous and bittersweet weekend.
"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 Globe National Bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist A New York Times Notable Book One 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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"The House of Broken Angels" is an epic novel that focuses on two days in the lives of the Mexican-American De La Cruz family who live San Diego. Miguel "Big Angel" De La Cruz is deathly ill and has summoned his whole family to his home to celebrate one last birthday party.
As Big Angel's seventieth birthday approaches, his mother, nearly one hundred years old, dies, which transforms the birthday into a doubleheader event of funeral followed by birthday party. As the weekend unfolds, various people come to celebrate the lives of Big Angel and his mother.
Through the novel, Urrea does a wonderful job of showing how complicated family relationships can be is whether the relationship is between husbands and wives, parents and children, or even within oneself. Although Big Angel is a flawed character, he accepts that he is flawed because he spent his whole life living attempting to raise his children like his father raised him as well as to provide for his family. By Big Angel being so career driven, he missed out one many pleasures in life such as going to the beach, enjoying time with his family or taking a vacation. It is only after his body has decayed due to illness that Big Angel realizes how much he has taken for granted in life regarding his wife, children, and siblings.
What makes "House of Broken Angels" so immersive is the way in which Urrea seamlessly recounts the many tales that have passed into family lore, the acts both ordinary and heroic that brought them to a fraught and sublime country and allowed the De La Cruz family to flourish in the land they have come to call home. While some of the tales are entertaining and some are heartbreaking, by the end of the novel, the reader is left knowing that family is everything regardless of whatever happens in one's life.
If you choose to read this novel, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version of this novel since it's read by the author. If you choose to read the print version of this novel, you'll ve treated to a sketch of the De La Cruz Family tree at the end of the novel.
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