Purgatoire

by Liz Prato

252 pages, Paperback

Published April 7, 2026

About the author

Liz Prato is the author of Volcanoes, Palm Trees, and Privilege: Essays on Hawai‘i (Overcup Press), baby's on fire (Press 53), and editor of The Night, and the Rain, and the River: 22 Stories (Forest Avenue Press). Her newest book, Kids in America: Essays on Gen X will be published by SFWP in June 2022.

Liz lives with furry feline friends and her best friend/husband, who is a bookseller, musician, and writer. And, yes, she dreams of palm trees. Every day.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories of two Italian immigrant families unfolds over decades as they become extended family when their children marry . A sprawling picture of the times in such a short book - the immigrant experience, war, prohibition, another war, the social norms of the day, mental health, but at its heart it’s about the meaning of family . So much grit and determination during tough times to build a better life is illustrated in a mix of narratives and points of view, letters and interviews.

Prato writes an amazing section after the book where she tells what was truth and what was fiction . “This book is a blending of facts and fiction about my paternal ancestors.” So much truth not just in the facts , it’s a story of family, the desire for more for your children, about life and death and love, universally experienced not just by this family .

I needed to refer to the list of characters at the front of the book many times to remember the relationships and the nicknames , but it was worth the effort . Both my paternal and maternal grandparents immigrated from Italy. While my family experience was not the same, it felt familiar in a some ways, especially with the reflection that family is everything.

I received a copy of this book from Forest Avenue Press through Edelweiss and NetGalley

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite an entertaining novel..
a great blend of fact and fiction about two extended Italian immigrant families who arrived in the US at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Some coming ahead of the rest of the family to work and earn money to bring the rest over.
A story about how we are connected across generations through blood, soil, and the stories and secrets we carry.
A lot of characters in these families… a little hard to remember who belongs to whom.
There is a list at the start of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[MackGetsLit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fear when I try to tell people about this book they may think I need to seek professional help, but just stay with me here…
So, to attempt to summarize, the author took her own personal “family lore” of when her family immigrated to the States back in the early 1900’s, then wove in fiction, changed some names, included talking to spirits, animals had their own separate POV- meanwhile this all takes place in the American West. Personally, I totally got what she was trying to do here. I know this based on an Italian immigration story but plug in any other highly Catholic immigrant group (I’ll use the Irish as my own comparison) and all of this story made total sense. The family identity that develops based on stories that aren’t even true or secrets that are omitted is so authentic. Then, add in the whole Catholic guilt theme and presto, you have a hit.
I’m not sure if this is for every reader who hasn’t been marinated in this type of generational immigrant dysfunction family lore, but if you haven’t and you are curious, try this one on for size.
Side note- I thought it was so cool at the end where she provided the primary resource material she found on her family while doing her research!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forest Avenue Press for the ARC.

[Staci Fenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purgatoire by Liz Prato, titled after a real river in Colorado! This is a book that takes the author’s family lineage, starts with facts, fills in the holes with fiction, and turns it into an amazing historical fiction. It’s a novel in stories, so each chapter is its own tale, but the people are all in the same family, and in the same town. Dating from 1910 to 1975, spanning 3-4 generations of this Italian immigrant family, and tackling social issues, familial issues and the human experience. They had some really tragic events happen, and a lot of them led tough lives, and yet each character/person held so much humanity and empathy, I found them to be really remarkable humans. Each story is unique, compelling, emotional, and highly readable.
Our author took some fictional liberties, included an immortal cat Luna, who has a whole chapter unto herself (which she narrates), and the town ghosts, who also have some dedicated chapters. I thought these additions were done really well, they were cute, funny and memorable. I love that all these stories make you laugh and make you cry.

And don’t skip the readers guide at the end, which separates fact from fiction; some of the craziest parts of this book are true (hint: not the cat)!!!

[Gemma Whelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liz Prato’s Purgatoire is an artful blending of stories portraying an Italian immigrant family settling in Colorado in the early 20th century. The novel combines different forms of storytelling—letters, reports, testimony from folks living and dead, and even from a cat—as the author weaves the accounts into a multilayered picture of the trials and the triumphs of the new communities. The novel is named Purgatoire after the river of that name which flows through the territory, but Purgatoire / Purgatory also implies an in-between space, a place of transition; and the novel has the feel of lives lived in fear, in shame, in a state of being tested. It also celebrates the breakthroughs to joy and finding ways to live a life despite the prejudices, the judgements, the strictures where the dominant group strive to keep others down. Ultimately the book is a testament to transcending obstacles, to honoring the life force, and to embracing love.

[Rebecca Beardsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liz Prato's Purgatoire is a gorgeous collection of connection—how we're tethered across generations, through blood and soil and the stories we carry. Prato moves fluidly between traditional narrative, letters, interview fragments, even a story told from a cat's point of view. Each form serves the emotional architecture, revealing new facets of these characters and their tangled roots. And then there's the supernatural—the artery running beneath it all. Prato uses it as infrastructure, the core connector binding past to present.

This is the kind of book that shows you what's possible when you trust the shape your story wants to take.

Thank you for Forest Avenue Press for this ARC

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knitting together fact and fiction with a dash of the supernatural, this story about rural immigrants in the US is fascinating. At the end of the book, the author shares about the pieces that were truly fact and while unexpected, that was appreciated. Told from multiple POVs, it follows a family extended and otherwise through their lives. At times, it is tragic. I found myself rooting for them all. The book deals with mental health and there are mentions of homophobia and animal death.

[Hannah Chaussee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy from Forest Avenue Press. Wow, what an incredible story. This is so beautiful and lucid. You feel like you know the characters immediately, and as you find out more of their stories, you truly feel connected. Liz Prato’s writing is clear and mesmerizing. I love when a book makes me feel connected to the story and characters on a deeper level, and Purgatoire does not disappoint. The cherry on top is the extensive research Prato includes in the back of the book.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful multigenearational novel! I love this kind of story, where we learn so much about the current generation through the story of the past generations. And the author really immerses you in the times and places the stories take us. It is an especially powerful reminder that for most of us, our ancestors came from somewhere else and for me, it ignited so much longing to have known more about my grandmother’s journey from Scotland. Loved this book.