Candlelight Bridge - by Cara Lopez Lee (Paperback)

About the Book

In 1910, twelve-year-old Candelaria Rivera and her family flee across the Chihuahuan Desert to America to escape the rising violence of the Mexican Revolution.

Book Synopsis

In 1910, twelve-year-old Candelaria Rivera and her family flee across the Chihuahuan Desert to America to escape the rising storm of the Mexican Revolution. Meanwhile, twenty-year-old Yan Chi Wong flees the Chinese Revolution and a shattering loss, also bound for America, where he's nicknamed Yankee. They meet in El Paso, Texas, where they struggle to make a home in a world that does not want them, until a terrible desire threatens to destroy their lives. Candlelight Bridge is not a romance but a tale of grudging partners struggling to survive the American Dream.

Review Quotes

"Cara Lopez Lee is a talented and audacious author. And CANDLELIGHT BRIDGE is a wonderful book, a book to savor and revisit."

-Luis Alberto Urrea, author of GOOD NIGHT, IRENE and THE HUMMINGBIRD'S DAUGHTER

"Sweeping yet intimate, CANDLELIGHT BRIDGE traces the epic journey of Candelaria and Yankee across China, Mexico and the borderlands of America. With these defiant and determined characters, Cara Lopez Lee powerfully portrays the costs of survival. Deeply moving."

-Vanessa Hua, author of FORBIDDEN CITY

"CANDLELIGHT BRIDGE unflinchingly illustrates the sacrifices required to make a home in an unwelcoming place. With vivid prose, Cara Lopez Lee brings to life the story of two immigrants from opposite sides of the world who form an unlikely and surprising partnership. This is a gripping tale of resilience, redemption, and survival. I highly recommend it."

-Tiffany Quay Tyson, author of THE PAST IS NEVER

"In CANDLELIGHT BRIDGE, Cara Lopez Lee masterfully weaves together two compelling perspectives to explore geographical and emotional borderlands. Elegantly told, dazzling in its verisimilitude, and fascinating in its cultural complexity, this gorgeous novel shows just how far we are willing to go in our quest for home."

-Erika Krouse, author of TELL ME EVERYTHING: The Story of a Private Investigation

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." While the family at the center of Cara Lopez Lee's beautiful, luminous historical saga CANDLELIGHT BRIDGE experiences as much joy as sorrow, Tolstoy's principle still applies: you have never met a family like them. At the same time, this is as American a story as there is: two immigrants from different cultures escaping dangers and demons in their own lands, coming to the US to create better lives in a country that barely tolerates them. Highly recommended!"

-Lisa Brackmann, NYT best-selling author of ROCK PAPER TIGER and BLACK SWAN RISING

"If Maxine Hong Kingston and Luis Alberto Urrea were to come together to write a masterpiece, I imagine it would read much like Cara Lopez Lee's brilliant novel, CANDLELIGHT BRIDGE. Set amid the Mexican Revolution and the ramifications of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the U.S., her characters form an unlikely union in El Paso, Texas. At once heartrending and deeply human, this is a story you won't forget."

-Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of BERNARDINE'S SHANGHAI SALOON and GOOD CHINESE WIFE

"From the very first sentence, readers are pulled into an epic, beautifully written, rich, and vivid story that leaves us breathless, hopeful, and excited for the sequel. This untold immigrant story is nothing short of amazing!"

-J.D. Mason, national bestselling author of THE REAL MRS. PRICE and ONE DAY I SAW A BLACK KING

"This timely gem shines as does Candelaria herself, a born fighter if ever there was one. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, the Riveras-an impoverished family escaping the long reach of war-head for what they hope is a better life in America. The story follows the oldest daughter, Candelaria, in an unexpected and sweeping saga that stretches from Mexico to China and into America. Settling in the wild west town of El Paso on the cusp of Prohibition forces Candelaria and her family to make dangerous and difficult decisions. CANDLELIGHT BRIDGE delivers a profoundly moving story of one strong and determined woman. Highly Recommended!"

-Randi Samuelson-Brown, author of MARKET STREET MADAM and ON THE FRINGES