American Saint: A Novel

After his miracles go viral, one man’s crisis of faith puts everything in doubt, erasing the line between memory, reality, and truth.

Raised in a poor neighborhood in Albuquerque by his mother and curandera grandmother, Gabriel Romero grows up fervently religious, privately conflicted, and consumed by what he’s certain is the true will of God. A radical activist determined to enlighten the consciousness of a country losing its way, Gabriel starts his own church. His slogans go viral. His protests make him either a hero or an anarchist in a polarized America, and his miracles—if we believe what we see—cast him as either a charlatan or a saint. But Gabriel knows that, above all, to ensure lasting faith he must do something truly memorable. For that, he will see his divine mission to its startling end.

In this visionary novel framed as a hagiography, the ruminative, subjective memories of Gabriel’s witnesses—spiritual, familial, romantic, and political—converge to make sense of the man’s confounding works and message. As they do, a surprising portrait develops…not only of the deepening mystery of Gabriel Romero himself but also of a country in conflict and the faith it takes to fight the suspicion and fear that divide us.