First published 2023
Eleven strangers board a bus bound for the Grand Canyon. Each passenger carries wounds from the pandemic years, when human contact became dangerous and society fractured along bitter lines. An elderly man fulfills a promise made to his deceased wife. A lost congregation searches for meaning after their faith collapsed. Travelers from different cultures and backgrounds share stories that reveal how grief, isolation, and loss have marked them all. As the miles pass, their tales grow darker. The journey becomes a pilgrimage where each passenger must confront what the pandemic took from them and what remains. In this modern retelling of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the destination matters less than the stories told along the way. The travelers discover that sharing their pain connects them in ways the isolated pandemic years never allowed.
Genres: american-fiction, adventure, horror, contemporary, 21st-century, dark-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief, pilgrimage
Setting: Canterbury, Grand Canyon
Period: Pandemic Years
176 pages · Hardcover · Crossroad Press