64 pages 2 hours read

Kirstin Valdez Quade

The Five Wounds

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Before You Read

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Super Short Summary

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade is a family drama set in Las Penas, New Mexico, revolving around Amadeo Padilla, who hopes to find redemption by playing Jesus in the town's Passion reenactment. His pregnant teenage daughter, Angel, moves in with him and her grandmother Yolanda, leading the family through struggles with addiction, abuse, and generational trauma to find healing and reconciliation.

Reviews & Readership

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Review Roundup

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade is lauded for its intricate character development and compelling portrayal of familial bonds. While celebrated for its heartfelt narrative and vivid depiction of a New Mexican community, it occasionally falters with a somewhat slow pacing. Overall, critics find it a poignant and beautifully written debut.

Who should read this

Who Should Read The Five Wounds?

Readers who appreciate richly crafted, multi-generational family sagas will enjoy Kirstin Valdez Quade's The Five Wounds. Comparable to works like A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley and The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea, this novel deftly explores themes of redemption and resilience.

RecommendedReading Age

18+years

Book Details

Themes

Relationships: Family

Relationships: Fathers

Values/Ideas: Equality

Topics

LGBTQ

Genre

Realistic Fiction

Modern Classic Fiction