A Prayer for Travelers A Novel

"Sometimes characters come along that demand a new kind of novel. The young women at the center of Ruchika Tomar's A Prayer for Travelers - elusive Penny and wounded Cale - are two spirits hitchhiking through geographies of dislocation and desire. The human collisions in Tomar's novel are emotionally seismic, and they leave us haunted and unsettled." --Adam Johnson, author of The Orphan Master's Son Cale, a bookish loner of mysterious parentage, was abandoned by her mother and raised by her grandfather in a loving, if codependent, household. One pivotal summer, her life is upended by the discovery of a devastating secret that will change her life forever. Set adrift for the first time in her life, Cale starts waitressing at the local diner, where she reconnects with Penelope Reyes, a charismatic former classmate and all-around hustler. Penny exposes Cale to the reality that exists beyond their small town, and the girls become inseparable - until one terrifying act of violence shatters their world. When Penny vanishes without a trace, Cale must set off on a dangerous quest across the desert to find her friend, and discover herself. Told in short, deftly interweaving chapters, A Prayer for Travelers explores the complicated legacy of the American West and the trauma of female experience.