"Purgatoire is a compulsively readable story of migration and loss, love and identity. This delightfully surreal novel follows the threads of history back and forth, resulting in a portrait of a family as American as only an immigration story can be." —Elizabeth Gonzalez James, author of The Bullet Swallower

"Set in the Colorado mining towns, Purgatoire is more than a descent into the raw earth of exploitation—it's an examination of hope, secrets, and the relentless forces of human nature. Prato writes with the magic touch, incorporating both the real and the fabulist into one aching, beautiful novel." —Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder and The Enchanted

"This fascinating scrapbook of a novel deftly combines fiction, history, memoir, letters, and more to depict a family haunted by love and loss, hope and fear, the here-and-now, the living past, and the mysterious beyond. Liz Prato brings the reader into the hearts and minds of generations of characters, revealing their secrets, their wishes, their regrets, and their inheritances with masterly poise. A vivid and engaging saga." —Shawn Levy, author of Clint: The Man and the Movies